The Manga Traveller: The First Trip
by SunniDanni
Summary: First installation of a long series. OC centric. Don't expect much romance. What if you could go into your favorite manga's world? Anyone, anytime, anywhere.
1. Innay's trip

**_I understand that in the beginning, you're probably wondering who the hell I'm talking about. Be patient with me please and we'll all get to see Sunaky's absolute coolness. _**

Disclaimer: I not Bisco, U no flame.

* * *

Innay found her head knocking against the window next to her as the bus bounced along the quiet road. Lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking and vibrations of its engine, the afternoon heat did nothing to help keep her mind alert. Blearily, she opened her eyes, only to receive the full glare of the piercing afternoon sun. Sighing, she leaned her head back on the seat and yawned mightily. Shaking her head in a vain attempt to clear it, she decided to get back to work. "Oh smuck," She exclaimed out loud when she realized that her notes had slid off her lap as she 

_(took that trip to LaLaLand)_

had been sleeping. Setting aside her bag, she contorted herself in an attempt to pick them all up while remaining seated. "Damn smuck bugger bool". Guess that wasn't going to work. Sighing loudly again, she stood up and stepped out of her seat and knelt down on the

_(filthy)_

floor. Most of her papers had just fallen beneath the seat, but somehow, one had slid all the way to the front of the bus. _"Just how long have I been snoozing for?"_ She marveled. She did tend to be dead to the world when she

_(booked that return trip to LaLaLand)_

slept. It was then Innay noticed, there didn't appear to be any legs poking out from above the seats.

Standing up carefully so as not to once again drop the papers,

_(clumsy oaf)_

it dawned on her that she was alone on the bus. Hadn't there been someone at the back? Swiveling her head carefully so as not to unbalance herself,

_(poise-challenged freak that she was)_

the stranger still sat slumped over in his seat. Satisfied that she wasn't alone or making a fool of herself in front of a total stranger, she picked her way to the front of the bus and made to pick her paper up. Suddenly, the bus lurched forward, throwing her off her feet. Grasping wildly for something to grip on, she plunged headfirst towards the front of the bus. The main thing that Innay will remember later is that it all happened strangely silently. Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she braced herself for impact with the floor.

* * *

_**All right. Just the beginning. I mean, look at the title, what do you think's gonna happen? ;0)**_

I write to vent, yet I vent to create. 


	2. BOOM

**_Alright. Got an idea who the traveller is now? Be a bit more patient. Sunaky will make her awe-inspiring appearance the next chapter. By the way, for a good read, dial 1800-LISEY'S-STORY by Stephen-smucking-King. He's the awesomest._**

Disclaimer: Again, I no Bisco, U no kill.

* * *

When the impact came, it felt more bone-jarring than if she had been put into a Boston shaker and handled by one of the most skilled juggling bartenders of the known world. Her back crashed

_(BOOM!)_

to the floor as her right arm hit the back of a seat, hard. She had tried to draw her knees up to her chest, but during the fall, her body had twisted and now her legs were tangled around each other. The one impact that she would not forget was when her head connected with the conductor's box. It felt like the 7 dwarves had picked her skull as their next gold mine and had gone diligently to work, attempting to break the mine open in the first swing. All 7 at the same time. She could see it all so clearly. The raised picks, brought down with enough force to pound the foundations of a building into the ground. Then,

_(BAM!)_

she saw the bluebirds fly in celebration of the opening of the mine. "So pretty," she mumbled to herself. "So pretty…" One little bluebird appeared to have heard this and cocked its little head at her. Chirping loudly, it signaled to its fellow wingmen that she appeared to be conscious of them. Flapping their wings to try to stay in place, they all turned to look at her. She smiled shakily. The first bird started to smile, only to reveal a mouth full of

_(chainsaw-like)_

fangs. The friendly chirping turned into hungry squawks

_(chainsaw buzzing)_

and the birds made a beeline for her. To her horror, they shed their blue feathers as oily black ones replaced them. All she could see now was this curtain of blue-to-black feathers flying towards her. Then the black covered her and

_(boom!)_

she knew nothing more of the birds or dwarves.

It was the smell that awoke her first. She had a sensitive nose

_(like a bitch)_

which could pick out most scents. This one made her think of fire, oil and pain. Wait, she was _feeling_ the pain. As she attempted to figure out what hurt, she struggles to raise her right arm. Groaning, she found one source of the pain as she let her arm flop uselessly back to the ground. At the same time, she could hear shouts. There also seemed to be a lot of movement going on. _"Oh bool, now people will see me all bruised and hurt."_ That brought a smile to her lips, and then she could hear a hoarse kind of cackling in the distance. Oh no, she was laughing at her own thought. She thought she sounded

_(like Death was playing a broken church organ)_

terrible, just _terrible_, but she couldn't stop herself.

Abruptly, there was the signature crash of glass breaking. She couldn't help but laugh harder at the thought of glass producing another sound

_(bing)_

when broken. What a trip this is. At this she laughed

_(cackled)_

harder. Just a nice quick, booming trip. A nice booming quick trip out of her mind and into her Stephen King fueled nightmares.

* * *

_**Sorry for the weird... erm... imagery. I was just taking a walk through Liesy Landon's world. And it looks worse than that. )  
**  
I write to vent, but I vent to create._


	3. BAM

_**Ok! Cue... da da dum! Sunaky! **_

xSTICKYxNOTEx - You're too precious. Hurry and update your stories already._

* * *

_

+Minutes before + 

"_Nabe at the koatatsu in winter… I've got my tofu, meat… Should I get some mushrooms besides carrots?"_ Nakahara Sunako mentally ticked off her grocery list. Rapidly calculating the amount of change she had left of this week's budget, she figured she could get some mushrooms and maybe half a kilogram of prawns. The Creatures of the Light did enjoy their prawns very much.

Hefting the overflowing plastic bags, she trudged through the snow towards the greengrocer's. "Ah! It's the scary little girl!", exclaimed the grocer's wife. "Hubby! Turn on more lights! The scary little girl is here!" Turning back to Sunako, she asked kindly, "What are you making tonight?"

"_Nabe_."

"Oh! You'll be wanting carrots and cabbage then. Lucky for you, I managed to save some of the cabbage. A lot of people are having _Nabe_ nowadays. It sure is nice to have something warm during the cold winter months." The grocer's wife prattled on as she began shifting some of the boxes around.

Sunako silently agreed as she examined the carrots with a critical eye. "I also want mushrooms." She adds quietly. "Definitely! Mushrooms are always a favourite! What kind? The Gray are really fresh these days!" the grocer's wife beamed as she showed Sunako the Gray Mushrooms. Carefully inspecting them, Sunako asks for 300 grams.

It is at this point that she hears a loud and unmistakable squeal of skidding tires. This is accompanied by a huge gust of wind that blows her unbound hair into her face as she attempted to turn to the sound. Whipping her head the other way, she saw a powder blue mini-van, the local bus service, plough harmlessly into the hedge. Still, the impact of the collision was enough to send it through the multiple layers of dense foliage that lined the playground if you were to believe all the noise it was making. Dropping her bags unceremoniously, she started after the bus, not even pausing as she heard the bus make contact with something and hopefully, crash to a stop.

The first on the scene, she took it all in. The rear of the mini-van had collided into the frame of the swings, bending the whole structure inwards, looking like a plank of wood left out in the rain to warp. The windshield was still, miraculously, intact. Through it, she could see the bus driver slumped over the wheel.

She wasn't sure if the bus would catch fire, but the first instinct that set her nerves alight was to get anyone and everyone on the van _out_. Removing her jacket in a succession of jerky movements, she wrapped it around her hand, and running towards the bus, smashed out the front windshield. The patented 'sticky-glass' fell in harmlessly. Grabbing the driver the lapels of his downjacket, she tugged hard. He didn't budge. She could hear some pinging sounds from the engine, and she didn't like that. She planted her feet against the front fender and _pulled_ again. He still wouldn't move.

Frustrated and anxious, Sunako finally realized why all her work was coming to naught. He was still belted in. Letting out a breath of pure exasperation, Sunako hauled herself up and reached out to undo the belt. She could hear the townsfolk coming in, shouting for someone to call the police and firemen. She stretched forward to reach the clasp, when she realized, she could hear someone laughing. Momentarily frozen, she made out the figure of someone lying near the front of the bus in the shadow. This someone, was laughing their head off. For some reason, she felt something. She couldn't quite put her finger on what was it. Later on, as she got to know that someone better, she'd come to call it _kinship_. At this point however, she was eager to get the driver out before going back in for the other person.

She called out to the person: "Hey! Are you ok? Can you walk? Hold on, I'll come get you as soon as I pull this guy out!" Was it her imagination, but did the laughter just get louder? She couldn't tell, there was a lot of noise going on behind her. Then someone was behind her, pulling the driver out of his seat. Immediately, she launched herself into the vehicle and crouched beside the fallen passenger.

It was a girl and she was laughing like the fool in the comedy club had just farted on stage. A fissure of recognition lanced through Sunako as she gazed upon the laughing face.

* * *

**_How'd you like that? Sunaky the heroine. Well, of course she'd be. 8-)_**

_I write to vent, however I vent to create._


	4. CRASH

**_Just one note to make:  
xSTICKYxNOTEx : Have I updated soon enough to please you? 0)_**

* * *

Innay was still laughing to herself when she heard someone yell into the bus. It sounded like it was coming from above her, where the driver was. The trouble was, she couldn't quite understand what the person was saying. It sounded like another language. Like in her old office, where they used a secret language to communicate when the

_(tyrannical slave driver)_

boss was around. They'd add the letter 'f' to the beginning of every syllable in the word and say that 'new' syllable after the original one. So a message like 'The Boss is coming' would end up sounding like: 'The-fe Boss-foss is-fis com-fum-ming-fing'. Innay thought about this and wondered if she should reply the

_(disembodied)_

voice. She considered yelling out 'Hel-fel-p-f me-fee'. Which only got her laughing more. The laughers were having a goody Sunday today. The laughers. Innay laughed harder. The only conscious and sane thought that ran through her was: "The argument against insanity falls through with a soft shirring sound." But her argument against insanity fell through with laughter bordering on the psych ward. Hahaha… She could feel her consciousness start to slip, not to say her sanity.

_(shirr shirr shirr)_

Then the voice was beside her. She was still laughing when she felt a _presence_ there. Controlling her mirth, she opened her eyes only to stare into another set of piercing amethyst eyes. She read recognition

_(of what?)_

in them. Then she was lost as the eyes opened their mouth to speak. Wait, no no… The person opened their mouth to speak. It all came out in a kind of rush. Innay wasn't sure what she was hearing, but, was that, Japanese? Was this beautiful pair of eyes talking to her in Japanese?

"_Oh smuck, my saviour is a Japanese tourist." _

Innay would have laughed at that if 'Eyes', she couldn't think of her saviour as anything else, hadn't probed at her right arm. Wincing, she feebly raised her left arm to push 'Eyes' away, but 'Eyes' had moved further down to her legs. Oh me oh my, something hurt

_(like a rusty barbed wire had been taken to scraping it)_

down there too. Guess she wouldn't be walking out of this wreck on her own today. Squinting through the pain, she sensed, more than she saw, 'Eyes' shift her position to kneel next to her and seemed somehow, bent over her.

"_Is she going to try and hear my heartbeat? I can hear it clearly. It's saying: 'Feel the pain and burn bitch.'"_

Then, she felt 'Eyes' put her arms under her.

"_Ah, she's gonna carry me. Bridal style. I-smucking-do."_ Innay didn't realize she said that last one out loud till 'Eyes' looked down at her weirdly.

"Ahsoomockindoe?"

Innay laughed at that and shook her head. "No, it's 'Eye-s-ma-king-doo'.", her lips forming an 'o' as she carefully enunciated the words. 'Eyes' continued to stare at her. Innay smiled inanely back. The smile formed a grimace as 'Eyes' lifted her. It felt like every part of her aching and battered body was trying to tell her the same thing all at the same time:

"_**Leave us the smuck alone!"**_

Tell? No, scream, holler, yell. She let out a groan of pure agony, hoping 'Eyes' would take the hint and be gentle. She couldn't tell if it worked, as 'Eyes' just started toward the front. Every step was like ripping open an old wound that had already scabbed over and massaging in some

_(therapeutic and good for healing) _

Dead Sea salt. Innay screwed her eyes shut tightly, just imagining that the pain would lessen some. And miraculously, it did. It became somewhat tolerable as 'Eyes' hopped lightly out of the smoking vehicle. Even the landing did nothing to aggravate any of her pains. Looking past 'Eyes' as she was carried away, she was shocked to see the vehicle that she had just left. Not only was it's colour powder blue, but it was a mini-van! She had boarded a beige-orange, 40-passenger bus! What in the smucking world was happening to her?

* * *

_**Ok, we're finally going to clear somethings up. And also, get to see more of Sunaky. I do so adore a stoic heroine.**_

I write to vent, then again, I vent to create.


	5. BING

**_I finally finished Lisey's Story. Ah... Too beautiful. Go out and find it people. You'll be helping yourself. And have a big imagination._**

Disclaimer: Do I really still need this?

* * *

Imagining that the bump to her head was affecting her sight, Innay shook her head vigorously in an effort to clear it. Woah… Not the right thing to do. It seemed to make things worse. Woo… The oily crows are back. Look at them flock. She could see their beady, emotionless eyes, their sharp, curved beaks, but most horrifically, she saw into their mouths. It seemed that in mouth of one crow was another crow and another in that crow's mouth and another in _that_ crow's mouth and another… The birds reached Innay.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Sunako looked down at the girl she had just carried out of the van. She had lain her down in the sand pit, hoping that it was softer than the cold, hard ground. Thank goodness that it hadn't started to snow yet. The girl's eyes were closed. She must have passed out from the pain. She couldn't quite understand what had happened in the van. When she saw her face, Suanko felt that she much have met this girl somewhere before, but that wasn't possible. Or rather, it felt like she _knew_ who this person was, _knew_ all about her. And then the girl had spoken. Sunako wasn't sure if she had been speaking to her, but the stranger thing was, she didn't quite understand what the girl had said. It sounded like English. That was easy enough. She'd surely learnt quite a bit from all her horror flicks. But, she hadn't understood what she said.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Sunako made to check on the wounds. It had been dark in the van and she wanted to see if the wounds looked worse in the light. Also, the blood! Little flowers popped up around Sunako. Oh, to see a real live accident victim and to see their wounds. It must be her lucky day! The girl's jeans had large and wet splotches of blood all over. She must have been thrown around quite abit. Earlier when she had pressed the red spots gently, they seemed to spread even more. What a fountain of blood there must be underneath! Sunako couldn't help smiling and giggling to herself despite her sympathy for the sufferer. She couldn't wait for the paramedics to cut the jeans away! There were also scratches and bruises on her arms and face.

On the van, there was a small pool of blood at her head, so she must have hit something hard. Hurriedly, Sunako checked to see if the sand beneath the girl's head was soaking up the blood, but curiously enough, there wasn't any. Parting the shoulder length black hair gently, she found the wound, a three inch long gash. Oh glory! It looked so nasty! Sunako could have jumped up and done a half somersault backflip! But the wound was no longer bleeding. If there was such a large pool of blood on the van that would mean that it had to have been gushing. Even if it wasn't gushing anymore, it should be a small trickle right? How did it dry up so quickly? Sunako considered poking at it to see if it would bleed, but a moan and frown from the unconscious girl changed her mind.

The distant scream of an ambulance siren had grown louder and finally stopped. Not turning away from the bloody victim, Sunako knew that they had arrived on site. Unwilling to leave the blood, (victim), Sunako stubbornly remained squatting next to the girl she was suppose to know. The paramedics didn't seem to mind as they set the stretcher down and started checking the girl's situation out.

"How long has she been out?" The male medic asked her as he pressed his fingers to her jugular to check the pulse.

"Not very, she was awake when I carried her out of the van, so it must have been only a few minutes ago. She was able to move her arms and feet earlier, so I thought it was alright to move her from the smoking vehicle to out here." Sunako replied matter-of-factly. _"Also, I was hoping to see her wounds and blood in the light."_ She thought to herself happily. Too bad there wasn't much blood. Keh…

"That was clear thinking. Thank you. Did she say anything when she was awake?" He was now applying some alcohol to her arm, in preparation of attaching the IV.

Sunako considered this question carefully. Dared she say that yes, but it sounded like gibberish English? Why not?

"No, she said nothing." Sunako shocked herself when she said the opposite of what she had decided. "Just groaned and moaned in pain a lot."

"Ok. Did you see her bag or any belongings? We need to contact her family." The medics were preparing to move her onto the stretcher.

"No, but I can check the van again if the Officers will let me." Personally, Sunako wanted to ride with them to the hospital. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving the blood's, (girl's), side.

"That would be great. Hurry up and you can take the other ambulance to the hospital. You do want to see her right?" the medic didn't wait for her answer and started to carry the girl to the waiting ambulance.

Sunako jumped up and dashed to the van, with every intention of taking the ambulance to the hospital. Maybe this hospital had doctors and nurses performing illegal organ harvesting and she could watch! Unlike the last time that damn Creature of the Light had been in the hospital. No Officer could have stopped that ninja-fast cockroach that zipped past them, hopped into the bus and searched quickly for any bags or satchels. Spotting a well-strapped backpack, she assumed it was the girl's, grabbing it, she zipped just as quickly and the black blur was seated in the back of another ambulance within a blink of the eye. This one had the bus driver. The other one had left already, it's siren on 'Banshee Scream' mode. Sunako delighted herself the whole trip by poking the poor, suffering bus driver.

* * *

_**Now we're getting back into gear. Sunaky's her usual creepy self and things are still as curious as ever. Even I don't really know where this is gonna go. Scott you old geezer you.**_

I write to vent, thing is, I vent to create.


	6. SHIRR

Innay came to with a suddenness that it felt like her brain wasn't able to keep up with her head. Being a natural lazy bum, she had always had trouble with waking up. But now, she awoke like

_(something had shoved her out of bed)_

she knew she was going to be late for school. Instant and alert. Of course, not necessarily with understanding, but alert nonetheless. She couldn't figure out what had woken her. A cursory examination of her surroundings revealed that she was obviously, in a hospital, but in a room all to herself. To her left was a window and the dusk sunlight awashed the plain room in glorious oranges, reds and purples.

To her right was a movable screen. The door to the room was probably somewhere behind it. There appeared to be sofa at the foot of her bed, but she couldn't see anything other than the backrest of the seat clearly from the angle she was lying at, which was flat on her back. An IV hung to her left, but she wasn't attached to it. In fact, she wasn't hooked up to anything. Relaxing, Innay let out a pent up breath as her aches and pains came back to her. She gingerly lifted her right arm, to find it in a well wrapped bandage. It felt

_(like she had swam across the Channel with only her arms and the dolphins for company)_

sore. Her legs weren't elevated, so they were probably fine. Fine? She had been in an automobile accident! She was fortunate to be alive! She let out a louder sigh. Many colleagues had told her that she would get old faster if she continued to sigh like she did. Which was heavily and often. It was her bad habit. Others had smoking, some did drinking, still others, gambling. Innay's was sighing. Sigh… There she went again.

Suddenly, she heard something moving at the foot of her bed. She strained as much as she could without actually sitting up to see what was going on. Oddly enough, she felt no fear of this unknown thing, just a kind of curiosity. She wondered if it was 'Eyes'. She hadn't been able to get a good look at 'Eyes' besides the eyes themselves. There was something familiar about those eyes indeed. Then again, why in the world would a Japanese tourist hang around? Probably had lots of gift shops to raid, rolls of film to waste. Then, the person rose from the sofa. And Innay thought that she would die from the shock and surprise.

It was Takano Kyohei! There were a good many reasons why Innay knew who he was. Because she had read about him. Because she had laughed at his antics. Because she had felt her heart go out to him about his family situation. Because he was a fictional character in the manga she was reading, entitled 'My Fair Lady' in her country. Because, it defied reason that he would be standing there in his full golden glory. Something was wrong. Something was very-smucking-wrong. Someone who knew her love for mangas was playing a very bad, a _smucking_ bad joke on her. He turned to her, his eyes widening abit at her comically shocked expression and strode quickly out of the room. Innay was still beside herself with shock and awe as she heard someone, probably Kyohei, yell out:

"ISHA? KAGGOFU? DARE? MEGA SAMETA!"

It WAS Japanese! She recognized 'dare' being 'anyone'. But the rest were as good as

_(Japanese)_

Greek to her. She could hear the room door slide

_(shirr shirr shirr)_

open and the movable screen was shoved aside as a young male doctor made for her bedside. He was talking to her in slow and gentle Japanese but Innay was still in too much of a shock, staring at the Golden teen who had quietly slipped back into the room again. Maybe he wasn't Kyohei. Maybe he was just another Japanese teen that looked very much like that character. Maybe

_(she had gone hopelessly insane with a shirr shirr and a ha ha)_

this was all just a dream. The doctor was still frantically trying to get her attention as he started to realize her lack of a response. He was waving his hands in front of her, and still speaking in Japanese. But Innay could hear nothing as she continued to stare wordlessly at the lanky individual that casually lounged at the doorway. Then something blocked her view. Momentarily distracted, Innay turned to look at the new comer.

"NO SMUCKING WAY! ODA TAKENAGA?"Innay screamed. Except that it merely came out as a slight exhalation. The dark haired youth was approaching the bed. Suddenly completely sure that if he touched or reached her, she would

_(still be as smucking crazy as she already was, with a shirr shirr and a ha ha)_

be brought into this, this… comic world, Innay shrank back in fear and scrambled to get off the bed. Both the doctor and the object of her fears lurched forward to grab her before she fell off and she finally got sound out of her throat. It came as a scream of abject terror. She imagined she looked

_(like the painting, The Scream)_

like a complete ninny, but she didn't want to be dragged into LooneyLand. Her legs were tangled amongst the blankets, so she desperately used her hands to push herself out of their reach. When the doctor grabbed her

_(sore)_

right arm, she screamed again and wrenched her arm out of his grasp, her flailing left arm clipping the young doctor in the chin, sending him pin wheeling back into the arms of the two nurses that had followed him in. Takenaga tried to grab her legs, which was probably the worse idea he had had for a long time. Her legs instinctively kicked out and caught him in the chest, knocking the breath out of him and throwing him back into a very surprised Kyohei. Finally free of the cumbersome covers, Innay swung her legs off the left side of the bed, her back to the window as her chest heaved up and down in an effort to get sufficient oxygen to her obviously deprived brain.

"_That's it! I'm not getting enough air! I need to get to somewhere with fresh air." _Clinging onto that sane lifeline amidst the sea of Shirrs, Innay searched desperately for a way out of the room. She couldn't use the door. There wasn't any way she could get past 5 determined, albeit surprised individuals. A movement to her left caught her eye. The tree outside her window looked really close. Maybe she could… Desperate and irrational, Innay threw the window open and leapt for the tree without thought. She chanted to herself:" I'll make it, I'll make it.", all the time picturing herself grabbing the tree branch and swinging herself onto it. Never in her life had she taken a gymnastics lesson, anything to do with bars and swinging was strictly on the playground. The tree drew closer, when at the last minute a moment of self doubt entered into her mind. Her fingers scratched some bark off the branch that she had aimed for and she fell screaming and twisting.

* * *

**_Yes, the Japanese I put in is really Japanese. Can anyone guess what he yelled? ;0) _**


	7. ARGH

**_I JUST REALISED! For the disclaimers, I 'disclaimed' the wrong artist! I meant Tomoko, not Bisco._**

It's been a tiring and exhaustive past week, what with extra work and doing overtime. 

xSTICKYxNOTEx: Thanks for hanging in there all this time. Hurry up and reveal that dark admirer already!  
MissaSolemnis: Keep writing and do update your stories soon alright?

* * *

The last thing Takano Kyohei expected when the mysterious girl came to was for her to scream, attack the people around her and jump out a 5th storey window. Goes to show what your expectations do for you. Having taken over 'Sentry Duty' from Sunako this morning, he had thought to merely sit on the couch and just wait. Sunako had been by the girl's side for the whole night yesterday afterall, she needed her rest. And the boys knew that if they didn't force her to, she'd stand vigilant till she collapsed. What they couldn't figure out was why she was so adamant on being with this girl. 

Now he had an idea why. This girl was as crazy as Sunako! And she was hellish strong too. When she kicked Takenaga, the force had sent them both sprawling to the ground in a messy tangle of legs and arms.

He couldn't understand why she had looked at him in such shock and with such recognition. He had been awakened by insistent sighing, to find her staring at him in some kind of disbelief. To prevent the room from overflowing with fangirls, no one was aware that Kyohei had spent the day there. When the nurse had come for her routine check, Kyohei had hid in the toilet, quietly humiliated to be reduced to hiding behind a flimsy shower curtain. So when he had ran out of the room shouting for the Doctor, or the Nurse, ANYONE, it had taken quite awhile before anyone responded. They couldn't seem to figure out which 'she' he was referring to. He had to partially drag the young doctor to the room.

Having spent most of his 8 hour shift sleeping, the afternoon sun was cosy though the wind was biting, he had considered calling Takenaga and telling him that there was no need to come and take over, but with the girl awake, it might have been better if he was there. But who would have imagined that the girl would react so violently towards Takenaga? Kyohei had never seen a girl harm Takenage before. Besides Sunako that was. But even Sunako tolerated Takenaga more than the rest of them, seeing as Takenaga was the first person that Sunako would allow in her room. Not even timid Yuki could sway her.

Then again, Yuki _wouldn't_ want to go into that room a lot.

That girl was so much like Sunako, screaming, kicking, flailing and then jumping. Could they be sisters? But her eyes were a deep brown, not purple like Sunako's. But this much he knew, he had better do something, or she'd die from the 5 storey jump. But even him, with his incredible physical prowess that could take on half a dozen trained _Yakuza's_, could take the toll of a whole day participating in every imaginable event during the Sports Fest, could take being blasted through a wall by the sheer strength of a wave, could not jump 5 stories and be sure to survive. Sprinting to the window, Takenaga and he stuck their heads out. What had the escapee thought to do? Jump on to the tree?

Actually, that looked plausible. It was definitely '_Kyohei-Doable_'. Maybe even '_Takenaga-Doable_'. But their little escape artist wasn't swinging from the tree with ancient monkey blood running through her veins. Indeed, she had missed the branch and was currently plummeting to the ground. The very, _hard_ ground. And Kyohei wouldn't make it down in time to catch her. Still, he had to try. In a single fluid motion, he verily flew from the window ledge, grasped the branch, swung himself to a lower branch, dropped to yet another lower branch and finally hopped lightly on to the ground. 55 feet. No sweat. Takenage thought otherwise as he marveled at the monkey in Kyohei. Either that or a flying squirrel.

In all the excitement and thrall of watching Kyohei descend, somehow the falling girl had become a running girl. How did she survive the fall? Kyohei was currently tearing after her and... someone else was running after them too. Takenaga squinted amidst the failing light, was that Sunako? Time to find out. Whipping around, he was about to leave when he spotted the girl's backpack leaning against the sofa. The doctor and nurses had all already left the room in search of the escapee. Surely they wouldn't mind if he tried to find out something about the girl through her stuff. Hoisting the pack and strapping it on firmly, Takenaga followed Kyohei's example. The sane way, by the elevator.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Although the boys had constantly commanded, pleaded, cajoled, ordered, asked (etc etc etc) for Sunako to stay home, she just couldn't. Not with the mystery of that girl still clouding up her mind. So in that absent state of mind, she had made some Century Egg congee to use as an excuse to come see the patient. She had waited till Takenaga left before giving Yuki and Ranmaru the slip. She knew they'd insist on going with her if they saw her leaving. To have one Creature of the Light there was bad enough, but to have 3… She'd never get to talk to the girl when she awoke. Besides, Takenaga would understand what she wanted to do. Or she could tie him up with the IV line and chuck him in the toilet. She sniggered happily to herself at the thought of doing that to a Creature of the Light.

She'd have to sneak around the back way of the hospital as that blasted Creature of the Light, Kyohei, was sure to be leaving. It would be a disaster if he saw her. And that was just about when she heard a scream, looked up and saw a body falling towards her. The body was falling backwards, so she couldn't tell who it was, but the person suddenly twisted in a most incredible manner and landed on all fours. If Sunako didn't know better, it was actually a HUGE cat, the way the person raised their haunches, it was like a cat that had its hackles raised. For a moment she stared in disbelief at the person in front of her, before recognition set in. It was the girl! The girl also stared back in recognition, mixed with fear, shock and confusion. Rooted by the strange mix of emotions that masked her face, Sunako stood there and just stared stupidly as the girl stood and took off in the opposite direction.

It couldn't have been a few seconds when, **THUD!** Takano was just there, running after the girl. Broken out of her reverie, Sunako put the pedal to the metal.

* * *

_**Didn't actually intend to end like that. The previous chapter was an example of never plan ahead. I had the idea for Takenaga, who speaks English (Please recall the Chapter where Yuki is depressed that Machiko is in America) to speak to Innay. Somehow... It twisted into something, darker, I suppose. **_

I write to vent, then again, vent to create. 


	8. KABAM

**_It's so tiring to write from two persepectives. I can't wait till they all get together. Finally. _**

* * *

Desperately still reaching for that forsaken branch, Innay knew she was going to hit the ground. Or it would open up

_(like the jaws of the shadowed thing. the everlasting shadowed thing)_

and the dream would spit her out. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Still, you couldn't always count on dreams to go the way you want them to. An unbidden image flashed through her mind. It was of a documentary that she had watched long ago, on cats. She had marveled at how cats always seemed to _always_ fall on their feet. She could see the slow motion

_(ssssssssssllllllllllllllooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww mmmmmmmoooooooooooo)_

image that the film had shown. The cat was falling backwards, having slipped off the window ledge it had been sunbathing on, but it twisted its torso, then its hindquarters and gracefully fell on all four legs. Unconsciously, Innay's body began to twist. It felt like her back was being twisted

_(sssssssssqqqqqqqqqqqqquuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzeeeeeeeeeeeee)_

like a rag, so unaccustomed to such an action was she. Her hands stretched out in a natural motion and her legs bent slightly in preparation for the impact. When she hit

_(KA-BAM!)_

the ground, she bent at the joints to absorb the impact, before stretching again to avoid a whiplash. She was so tense that she remained in that position, rear slightly raised and shoulders hunched close to her body, when she saw the confirmation of her fears. Nakahara Sunako. **THE** Queen of Darkness. It was Eyes. Eyes was Nakahara. Nakahara was Eyes.

Rising, she took off at a run and nearly stumbled at the pain in her legs. Gritting her teeth, she put the wonders of how she did what she had just done at the back of her mind for rumination at a later time and focused on leaving the

_(Nightmares)_

Queen and her Creatures of the Light in the dust. The pain in her legs receded as her breathing took on a steady rhythm. Encouraged, she bent her head low, held her arms close to her body and put more effort into her pumping legs. Running barefoot was therapeutic, but it was still painful. With every step, the impact

_(BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!)_

to her heels and knees were so great. If only one could run on air… In a moment of whimsy, Innay imagined running, running, and like an airplane, take off into flying… Amidst her focus on getting away and her dreaming, she didn't notice that her feet weren't exactly on the ground anymore.

But the two after her noticed. She was so fast. Kyohei was struggling to catch up to her. And he stopped dead in his tracks when the running girl started to levitate slightly. Sunako sped past, determined not to give up until she had the answers to her questions.

Secretly, she delighted in finding that this curious girl was turning out more interesting than she had originally thought. Maybe this girl had **Dark Powers** that she could teach Sunako to harness! Afterall, it had to take a strange, (demented), person to be able to laugh when they were lying within a wreck. There was something up with this girl. And damn if she was going to let someone deny her what she wanted. Lowering her posture, Sunako increased her speed.

Her breath ragged, Innay turned to see if her pursers were still behind her. Kyohei appeared to have given up, but Nakahara was still chasing her.

_(like a dog on the scent of a rabbit)_

Facing back front, Innay channeled all her energies into putting on more speed, her eyes frantically looking for a place to hide from

_(the hounds of hell)_

her imagination. Her imagination was strong and vivid, but this was too much. Why wouldn't she let up? Why wouldn't **IT **let up? Maybe it would be wise to stop and ask questions. A memory of Sunako's likes forced an unpleasant image of interrogation that consisted of her being

_(strapped to the bed in a cold room, with a single light blinding her, the sounds of various things dripping, beeping, slipping, the glint of a wickedly sharp looking instrument as her masked tormentor wielded it closer and closer and closer…)_

forced to endure the stares and bright lights of the Fab 4.

The bright lights seemed to trigger some memory. It felt like she HAD been strapped to a bed before. Except, it wasn't a bed per se. It was cold. It had _felt_ cold under her. How does a bed feel cold? A chill stole over her very innards, causing a ripple of fear to crawl up her spine. She saw… she saw a… No, an. She saw… an eight legged… _thing_. Someone in a motorcycle helmet was lowering the bug to her, to her face? She couldn't remember. What was going on? Innay wanted answers. Glorious answers. But she wasn't going to get it as long as she ran.

Innay was torn, Stop or escape? Stop or escape? Stop or escape? when the decision was made for her. Deep in argument with herself, she had turned the corner of the street blindly and crashed headlong into a pedestrian. What was it with her and accidents? Innay's momentum continued to carry her forward

_(like magnets of the same side attract)_

as she fell on the poor unsuspecting fellow. No, it wasn't just the momentum, the chap had grabbed hold of her arms, perhaps in a futile attempt to stop her or prevent her from falling. A strangled 'OOMPH' escaped her cushion as her full 60 kilograms fell on the person.

Scrambling to get off and apologise, she turned to see Nakahara catching up. Guess it was going to be stop and ask and answer. Turning back to the fallen individual, Innay couldn't help but feel that the ground had opened up from beneath her. Again.

* * *

_**This is gonna be longer than I thought. Well, we'll just have to keep at it I guess. 0)  
**I write to vent, screw it, I vent to create._


	9. WHOOSH

**_

* * *

I can't believe that I managed to churn out 2 songfics. I guess romance is somewhere in me._**

Disclaimer: Tomoko is Queen to all things Wallflower and Nakahara. I wouldn't mind being Princess, but well...

* * *

Sunako could have whopped with delight when the girl crashed into a stranger. She would definitely catch up to her now. The girl was so fast! And Sunako had always been in top physical condition. It had to be all the dazzling shines from the Creatures of the Light that had weakened her thus far.

Regardless, with the accident-prone patient currently half lying, half sitting dazed on the pavement, Sunako was already only a few steps behind her. Sunako slowed down, not wanting to scare her into running off again. Taking loud and deliberate steps so that the girl would know that Sunako was behind her, she advanced cautiously.

The patient didn't turn to look. She was apparently staring at the stranger she had crashed into. Sunako stole a glance at the man. He didn't look much older than her and he was neither dazzling, nor ugly. A rough handsome if you will.

She slowly lowered herself to the girl's height and gently gripped her right shoulder. The girl turned to her to reveal a stricken expression. Sunako was used to such expressions, compared to what she received in school and on the streets, but this expression wasn't meant for her. The girl turned back to the boy.

She looked closer at him. He looked, European, with an unruly mop of black hair, the piercing blue eyes that were focused on the patient were startling. His hair was long. Takenaga long, but not as straight. He showed no fear or shock, just a mild surprise.

As he stood, it seemed like he was unraveling himself. When he had been sitting, he had seemed of decent height. But standing, he could have been as tall, if not taller than Ranmaru. He held out his hand to assist the patient up. The very patient that was still staring gape mouthed at the stranger. The cold October wind tore mercilessly at his hair. He held his hand out patiently, smiling gently. A small smile. Yet, there was indeed something sinister about the smile. Sunako with her fondness for horror, found it enormously appealing. Maybe he could teach her how to smile like that...

Beneath her hand, she felt the patient tremble. Then an icy vice crushed her hand.

No, it was Innay's hand. It felt like an eternity had passed since she had

_(crashed)_

bumped into the stranger, for the ice coldness of the pavement had seeped right through the thin hospital Johnny and chilled her to her very bones. But she didn't feel the cold. The cold of her heart shrouded the cold of her skin. It was him. Him from the bus. There was no way she would forget those

_(cold, emotionless)_

eyes that had watched her as she had boarded the bus.

At this point, she would take the Sunako-World-Madness over

_(being stuck in a room with a horny syphilitic mad bull)_

this man. She would rather

_(put her hand willingly into a vat of rabies infected dog blood and dip it in a frenzied shark filled tank.)_

appear rude than take his hand.

Somewhere deep down, Innay knew. She knew. He had something to do with this.

She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to see this. The child in Innay grappled at the hope that this was still all a dream.

Not realizing that she still had a death hold on Sunako's hand, she squeezed her eyes shut and wished, hoped, imagined with every fibre of her being that she could be somewhere else. Somewhere safe. Away from this man.

She felt a rush of hot and cold, a tingle over her skin, a drop in her stomach, a thrill of ecstasy. Then she felt nothing.

Opening her eyes one at a time, the man was gone. And so was the street she had been on.

In front of her stood the Nakahara Mansion.

* * *

_**Ok, the ride is really starting. Please keep all appendages within the car and have a rolicking good time.**_

I write to vent, what's it to you? 


	10. SNORE

_**Phew, after days of dry spells, today has turned out well. I managed to make a productive morning, completeing this chapter, finishing another and starting one more. I'm gonna try and write more before I fly off (into the sunset) cause I know once I start classes in Uni, I'm gonna be a spotty updater. Anywho, they're**__** finally altogether! YAHOO! for this writer anyway. (rolls eyes)** _

**xSTICKYxNOTEx: A loyal reader and reviewer, no truer friend could be found. I love your stories, if not just for the happy endings, then the twists that bring us to the destination. Hurry and update more. Let's get to the **Lavendar Love Letters **already!**

**kurasmachik: Maybe I'll add an actual cat in later chapters. D **

MissaSolemnis: Missa-chan, I'm gonna have to work you in later, but look out for it. 

* * *

Overhead, an unexpected skein of geese honked their way south. It was nearly too late in autumn to see geese. But Innay didn't know that. And honestly, she couldn't

_(give a rat's ass)_

care less. She felt

_(bone weary)_

tired. Exhausted. Spent. Drained. Like she had been in another vehicle accident. She wanted to just lie down on the ticklish grass, under the setting sun and let the cold breeze freeze her to death.

"_So this is how autumn feels like. I knew I'd like it." _It suited how she felt on the inside very well, dry, cold, hard. Winter was probably too wet. Sighing

_(and again)_

she abruptly flopped onto the ground. She was lying next to the graveled drive way, no longer caring about what was happening anymore. There'd be plenty of time for wondering and searching later on. Her eyelids felt

_(like 10 pound weights were sewn into each one)_

heavy and she didn't fight the urge as her eyeballs rolled upwards and her eyelids slid over them.

Innay slept.

While Sunako stared. And stared and stared and stared. Earlier she had felt a strange feeling, like a pressure pushing at her. Almost like how wind pushes against you, but most of it would go around you. The man in front of her seemed to waver for a moment, then it looked like she had been looking into a reflection of the man on water as he rippled outwards.

Her stomach felt like it had fallen 6 feet, but her body couldn't catch up. The ripples had widened out and the image of the man was so distorted and dream-like that she couldn't tell if she had ever seen a man in the first place. Then, the pressure on her increased and it looked like the watery image was coming towards her. Bracing for the impact, she shut her eyes and held her free hand up to shield her face. She felt a chill wash over her and then all seemed calm again. All the excitement had happened in perfectly eerie silence. No pop in her ear, no rush of water, no whistle of the wind. Sunako held her protective position, stunned.

And that was when the grip on her hand had let go. Looking down at the mysterious girl, she found that she had fallen onto the ground and now lay motionless in a fetal position. Worried, Sunako leaned over her and checked for a pulse on her jugular. It was strong and steady. So she was just, sleeping.

Out on the cold hard ground.

In front of her Aunty's mansion.

In a measly hospital Johnny.

Even if the girl wasn't sick yet, she would be soon. Sunako sat back on her haunches and watched the girl sleep. What had just happened? They had been on the street just a few seconds ago, staring at that scary man, then suddenly, **WHOOSH!** they were outside of Sunako's home.

Studying the girl, she noticed that the lunulas of both of her hands had turned blood red. Hurriedly picking up the girl's hands, she thought that perhaps the girl had somehow wounded herself, but the blood seemed to contain itself in the lunulas only. Thing were getting more and more curious. But it actually looked quite nice. Shrugging, Sunako hefted the girl over her shoulder and started for the mansion's front door. The girl let out an indignant squeak at the movement, but otherwise, remained slumbering.

Shifting the weight to distribute it evenly, Sunako climbed the steps slowly, in favor of the blustery winds. The front door was thrown open and Yuki and Ranmaru spilled out. Stopping in front of her, the first thing that came out of Yuki was:

"**She killed her!"**

And shrank behind an obviously just as terrified Ranmaru.

Sunako brushed past them with her well-perfected 'I-don't-care-about-what-you-just-said-or-did' face and brought the snoozing individual to the guest room next to hers.¹

Laying the girl gently on top of the covers, Sunako couldn't help but let a little maternal instinct override her morbid desire to cut the girl open and study her like the old lady had in the story of the Golden Goose. She smoothed the similarly raven-black hair back from the sleeping individual's face, her fingertips brushing her forehead like a butterflies wings flit and disturbs the air ever so slightly. Her forehead was beaded with cold sweat and Sunako used her jacket sleeve to blot the moisture away. Checking her hands again, the lunulas had faded to a dark pink, but you could tell that it wasn't natural.

Her skin was smooth and cold to the touch and felt altogether very real. Suanko still couldn't believe what had happened. How had they gone from a street at least 5 blocks away from the hospital, in the opposite direction, to home? And how did this stranger know where she lived? Once again, the feeling that Sunako knew this girl came back to her. Maybe they knew each other a long time ago. Perhaps she had just forgotten. She just couldn't grasp it.

Watching her, Sunako felt the intense urge to take a nap as well. Yawning into the back of her hand, she shifted the guest so as to tuck her under the covers and decided she'd take a nap after all. Laying herself down in her own bed, Sunako paused to consider what had happened earlier. Watching that miraculous landing, her levitation, then the stranger and finally, the most curious of happenings, 'transporting' from there to here. Drifting off, Sunako could have sworn that she had felt a distant fear for the stranger just like that girl had…

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Takenaga found Kyohei exactly where he stood when he saw the girl levitate off the ground. Stunned and with his mouth open. Kind of like how Yuki found Kyohei after Sunako had appeared in his bed butt naked.²

Surely the girl hadn't stripped down to her skivvies (if she wore any) in front of him. Takenaga didn't see anyone in sight. "Was that Sunako earlier?" He asked, not really expecting an answer.

He shifted the pack and adjusted the straps again. He just couldn't get comfortable with it on his back. And having it in contact with his skin was giving him the creeps. He wouldn't have admitted it out loud earlier, but now, he was willing to say that this backpack gave him the feeling that he was being watched. Maybe it had to do with the red eye logo sewn onto the top flap. To say that this bag was something different was an understatement. Takenaga had never seen such a bag, made of black material that felt like canvas, but seemed light and cool to the touch. Numerous zips and straps and pockets adorned the pack, otherwise it was devoid of any other designs.

Besides the red eye. The open, ever watchful, bleeding red eye.³

Takenaga shuddered in hopes to shimmy the image of that hateful eye out of his confused mind. To his surprise, Kyohei gripped his arm. Tightly. "She… she… flew. She flew." Kyohei's face was pallid and his eyes wild.

"SHE FLEW!" He screamed to no one in particular. Takenaga held Kyohei's wrist, swinging the young man to face him, fearing that Kyohei was finally going crazy. But Kyohei was smiling ear to ear. "She flew man! She flew!" He exclaimed, eyes finally focusing on Takenaga.

Sunako flew? Takenaga knew that she wasn't completely human sometimes, but how was that aerodynamically possible? She still had the same human structure as him and Kyohei. He imagined her sprouting bat-like wings (that would suit her wouldn't it?) and taking off into the night sky. Speaking of night sky, it HAD gotten dark quickly and the wind was starting to grow stronger. Where _were_ Sunako and the patient? They certainly weren't in sight and he hadn't taken that long to negotiate the packed lift and busy halls of the hospital.

Kyohei had gone back to staring in the direction of the town, gaping in awe, replaying a scene only his inner mind theatre could see. Takenaga didn't fear for him anymore, afterall, he seemed particularly euphoric. Shaking his head, he pulled the awe-struck teen along behind him as he headed home. Hefting the pack again, he wondered if this was all worth the free rent promised for living with Sunako in the vain attempt to transform her into a lady.

_**¹Author's Honesty Note: I must admit that there is suppose to be a part here about Sunako preparing Innay for bed, like removing jackets and shoes, then I realized: the damn girl is in a hospital Johnny and nothing else. Bow down to my leaky brain. (I wrote, like, 2 paragraphs of it before I realized my mistake. Sigh.)**_

²_**Author's Honesty Note: I nearly wrote – butt nekid – JT you rock my world.**_

**_³Author's Note: Author wishes she could insert a picture here, but well, if you wanna see a penciled version of the eye, PM me. (By the way, this is in honor of the Crimson King.)_**

**_

* * *

I forgot to mention, lunulas are the pale crescent shape at the base of your fingernails. Not the tips, the other base. Next chapter (which is already written) will reveal the stranger. Ah.. I'm so proud of that character._**


	11. SWISH

_**Alright. As promised the stranger is revealed. It took abit more research than usual (as will a chapter or two down the road), but it was worth it. I'm quite proud of this character actually. I don't think I could draw this one though. The eye possible. This, I don't know.**_

xSTICKYxNOTEx: I'm glad you finally updated Lavendar Love Letters **so I expect you will continue to do so? (raises eyebrow) And you are much too kind in your praise. I've had an idea about the eye. I'll probably scan it and use it as my avatar. Then anyone can see it at my profile. How about that?**

Disclaimer: Murder Target - Tomoko Hayakawa. Why - To gain control of Wallflower

* * *

Samael straightened and withdrew his proffered hand. Alone on the street once again, he slowly released his human visage.

His black hair grew long and thickened, secreting poisonous oils at the same time. They grew mane like, draping well past his shoulder blades. But that didn't matter for his legs melded together and lengthened, bringing his total length to well over 20 feet. His fingers seemed to grow longer and thinner, sharpening into wicked talons that clicked open and shut reflexively. His human clothes had melted back into his scales and 6 pairs of wings slowly unfurled and stretched out of his back. His roughly handsome human façade molded itself into a more feline, feral look as the king of the jungle's head replaced where the human head had been.¹

The only thing that Innay would have recognized, and was enough if you asked her, were his eyes, which remained their cold, hard blue.

A hard thrust of the tail and a violent flap of his wings and he was in the air. No bird could have flown truer or smoother. He glided effortlessly over the sleepy town. He did not fear being seen, for who would want to believe that they had seen a monster flying overhead? They'd put it down to a curious bird. Besides, happenings in comics were predictable and obvious. Samael smiled to himself in satisfaction. Pulling his wings in sharply, he angled up and flew perpendicular to the ground, gathering speed as he neared the limit of the imagined realm.

He'd visit Innay another time. The girl really was starting to use her new, 'abilities'. But she would soon come to learn the price of using them. He smiled his little smile again and exited the realm in a rush of scales.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Yuki peeked timidly into the guest room. Even though it was already 1 in the morning, he couldn't sleep with the thought of a dead body being in the same house as he. Besides, school was out, what did it matter.

"_She's not dead silly!"_ Yuki told himself, mentally hitting his head. _"She's just sleeping very deeply."_

Thus self assured, he approached the bed as quietly as possible. He bore with him a tray of food, in case she awoke and questioned why he was there. His mind raced back to the battle discussion the 4 guys of the house had had earlier after Takenaga and Kyohei arrived home.

"_The first thing she did when she saw Takenaga was scream! Can you believe that?" Kyohei had laughingly reported. Takenaga merely took a sip of his tea. "Then then then! She kicked him cause he was stupid enough to reach for her legs and jumped out the 5__th__ storey window!" Kyohei drowned himself in his own laughter. The others were silent._

_Takenaga set his tea cup down on the table, loudly. "That is not the issue. First, we need to explain to the doctor what happened. Then, we need to talk to her when she awakens. This is so far, worst than any other situations Sunako has caused."_

Said girl was still sleeping when the boys had arrived home, so it was to a blubbering Yuki and stammering Ranmaru that Takenaga came home to. The first clear sentence extracted from the small blond was:

"**She killed her! She killed her and is keeping the body! What are we gonna do about the dead body?"**

It had taken them over half an hour to calm Yuki down, get Ranmaru to relate what had happened and then, they had checked in on the mysterious girl. She was dead to world surely, but very much alive and breathing as they found out from the mirror test.²

Thereafter the boys had returned to the living room where Kyohei had given the general gist of what had occurred at the hospital.

_Takenaga turned to Kyohei who was grinning like a fool. "Earlier you said that 'She flew'. Who flew?"_

"_It was her. The girl. She was running and running, then, her feet left the ground, but she was still running. She was running on air! She was flying!" Kyohei sat up and gestured with his arms excitedly._

_All 3 of them watched Kyohei doubtfully, wondering if something had snapped. Perhaps sensing this, Kyohei pouted and retorted: "Ask Sunako when she wakes up if you don't believe me. She saw it too!"_

As the resident chef was currently snoozing in bed, they had elected to order take out, rather than suffer through someone's (namely Yuki's) disastrous cooking. Sunako's share was cling-wrapped and chilling in the fridge so that she'd have something if she woke hungry. Yuki was carrying the stranger's share, perhaps with the intention to use it as a shield if the dead girl resurrected and decided to drag him to hell with her.

"_She's not dead! She's not dead! She's not dead!"_ Chanting that line like a talisman, Yuki reached the bedside.

She was lying on her back, with her shoulder length black hair splayed out, a dark frame against the stark white pillowcase. A deep frown played across her forehead and her lips were pursed. _"Is she having a bad dream?"_ Yuki hazard. She didn't look as scary as a dead body would, rather, she looked troubled, tired, scared and vulnerable. She shifted in her sleep, appearing to try to raise her hand, which was hidden under the heavy quilt. Yuki quickly set down the package on a nearby chair and felt her forehead. It was cold and damp. Reaching into his pocket for a tissue, she mumbled something.

Pausing in the action, Yuki leaned in closer. "What did you say?" He whispered.

"Sam… Sam… el…"

"What?" He leaned in closer.

But she had lapsed back into troubled sleep. Samuel? Samel? Camel? Was that an English name? Maybe it was someone she cared for. Boy, was this room cold. Yuki made his way to the cupboard and removed more blankets from the top shelf. Can't have their guest freezing.

Guest. Freezing.

Yuki stopped midway to the bed. She seemed more alive to him now that he had heard her speak. Suddenly Yuki felt much better and he fussed over the patient before picking up the tray of food and leaving the room.

Innay continued to frown.

¹_**Author's Note: Samael is supposed to be the 'Angel of Death', well, something like that. I picture him simply as a powerful evil/benign being, contradictory and oxymoronic, but suitable for my story. For his appearance, I mixed together all the descriptions of him I could find. That of a lion-faced serpent with 12 wings. Way gross if you ask me. Do wikipedia the name if it interests you. I might try to find an image of him, or create one myself otherwise.**_

²**_Author's Note: The mirror test is to hold a mirror up close to the nose. When a person is breathing, the mirror will fog up. Proof of breath, no matter how shallow._**

_**

* * *

I hope I kept them in character enough. I'm trying to give all the boys some time in the limelight. Whadaya think? (grins like a fool)**_

I write to vent, do I really need to continue this? 


	12. OOF

_**Hello again. I've been very very busy writing, making up for time. Honestly, I encourage all writers to write as much as possible when the Muse is in the house. I can't stand going days with a block. Drives me mad! **Not to boast, but I've got Chapter 19 complete and waiting. :b_

**Anyway, here's Chapter 12. Would like to encourage you to take note of the (sum of the) time everytime Innay is involved. I love playing with numbers.**

xSTICKYxNOTEx: I'm willing to bet you live on a diet of honey, sugar and everything sweet, cause that's what you are. I'm gonna be diabetic if you contine feeding me sweet sayings!  


* * *

Innay was indeed, in the middle of a nightmare.

Sometime in the middle of the night, she had somehow burrowed into the warmth of the multiple layers of blankets and was now, quite suffocated.

The first thought that came to mind was that she had been buried alive.

Panicking, her arms and legs thrashed about, seeking freedom. Only to get more tangled in the heavy fabrics.

Kick kick, flail flail and a THUMP! & OOF! Her violent movements had thrown her off the bed.

Throwing off the blankets in disgust, more at herself than them, she rubbed her hip where she had fallen on. Even through the thick coverings, it felt slightly sore. We were surely wide awake now. Sigh…

Her hand paused on her hip, her body slightly bent so that the offended hip was jutting out for easy access, Innay suddenly realize that she wasn't at home. The protective wall of sleep crumbled and the torrent of the recent happenings broke the proverbial dam. Though the room was mostly in darkness, there was amply light from the waxing moon to illuminate the plush surroundings.

The double bed looked to be King-sized with at least 3 plump pillows, one at the foot of the bed, one at the head and one on the floor next to the discarded blankets. The awning over the bed gave it a European feel and Innay was sure that if she released the curtains, they would effectively block out any light from reaching the occupant.

There were side tables on both sides of the huge bed, the one on the right was occupied by a table lamp and the one on the left had a digital clock whose radioactive green numerals read as 4:36. Innay shivered. The numbers added up to 13.

Continuing her survey of the room, there was a cushioned high-back chair within arms reach of the bed to the left. The sister chair sat at an angle to a low tea table that was set in the corner of the room to Innay's right. Innay doubled back. And released her breath.

The potted plant behind the setting had looked like someone was crouched down and attempting to conceal themselves.

To the setting's right, the curtains of a ceiling-to-floor window were held open by golden tassels. Wait, window? No, it was a door leading out to a balcony. The curtains for the windows that stood on either side of the glass door were drawn. A quaint vanity sat beneath the window on the left of the balcony entrance, a simple low table with four drawers, oval mirror and short stool.

On the wall opposite the bed, a flat screened television hung from the wall. A complete home entertainment system was at the occupant's disposal, with the console filled with various electronic gadgets. Innay could imagine herself sending hours on the game console that peeked out of it's shelving.

To her left stood a handsome double-door cupboard, a dark wood that Innay would have been able to name even if her life depended on it. Crossing the carpeted ground, she yanked both doors open quickly. If anyone had been hiding inside to scare her, she would scare them first.

Assailed by a mix of the smell of mothballs and lavender, the top shelf housed another pillow and there were a few articles of clothing hung up. A bathrobe, a silk night gown, some blouses and jeans, skirts, a couture dress… Woah, back up. Couture? Innay unhooked the dress from the rack and brought it closer to the light. It was exquisite. It composed of a black silk shift, sleeveless and falling to the knees, with a dark red velvet corset dress over the shift. The voluminous skirt which was open in the front to reveal the shift would trail along the floor behind the person. The top was done in an 18th century peasant like top, the ties of the cinching corset a striking red against the matt fabric. Innay replaced it in awe, loving the feel of the contrasting fabrics.

The chest of drawers in the cupboard contained boxers for females, shorts, tee shirts, towels, socks and the likes. It was the Complete Home-Shopping Network for apparel. Satisfied with her rummaging, she shut the drawers and finally the doors.

Turning on her heel, she spotted a backpack placed against the legs of the side table that carried the clock.

"_Is that mine? Don't think I've ever seen it before. But… Why is it here if it isn't mine?"_ Innay kneeled down in front of the backpack. The red eye stared challengingly at her.

"Oh smuck, why not?" She exclaimed out loud before yanking at the straps, releasing the clasps and flipping the top flap over.

Removing all the items one at a time, Innay carefully laid them out on the carpet, extending to the bedspread when the immediate space in front of her was filled.

First was a makeup kit. She recognized the red mesh makeup bag as the one that her mother had given her. A cursory examination of the contents proved that yes, these were her belongings. She set that back down. She put her wind-up torch together with it. That would come in useful when she decided to venture out of the room. She gently moved the stack of clothes (that were hers) aside. Her toiletries set had been in the pack too. She placed this on top of the clothes.

Feeling around at the bottom of the bag, she withdrew the last item in the main pocket. A sketch book? Yes. It was hers. Flipping through it, she smiled at her puny attempts to create 'Word Art', writing names of people that she cared about in a 'Leaking' style, where the block-like letters seemed to leak out of the letter at the bottom. She paused at the page where she had taped some drawings in.

These she had done when she didn't have her sketch book. There were sketches of four eyes and one of a shadow of a crow she had seen on a television antenna. Innay flipped the top flap of the pack over once again. One of her eye's, was the Red Eye. Innay carefully considered the two, using the torch to illuminate the two. There were the same, down to the same miss-strokes.

"_Did I get someone to sew this onto my pack? But, I don't have a black backpack. Or at least, I didn't…"_

Absently flipping to the next page, Innay froze. Along the length of the A5 sized paper, the theme ran – _A Murder of Crows_. Innay knew this to be the collective term for crows, and indeed, the page showed a murder of half a dozen shadow crows with hollow eyes.

The drawing played on the double meaning of the phrase though, showing all the crows on their backs with their feet stuck stiffly up in the air. One had a blade sticking out the chest, another, an arrow. The third was eviscerated, the innards a stroke of white against the black shadings of the body. The fourth had a jagged white cut across it's neck, probably slit. One had what appeared to be a pool of black blood at its head, flowing from a white hole, presumably shot. The sixth in the middle had the remains of a white hangman's noose dangling from its neck.

Innay was fairly certain that she had not drawn this. It looked to be in her style, but she knew that she didn't have the heart to do so. Stroking the first crow, she looked at her finger to find the smudge of carbon lead on the tips. It was real. Not just her imagination. Again.

Turning the next page, there was a title written - A _SEAL's weapon of choice is the Heckler and Koch MP-5 submachine gun_. Thankfully, there wasn't a picture, but Innay saw the image in her mind.

A baby seal packing heat. A Heckler and Koch MP-5 Submachine gun to be precise.

More accurately, Innay recognized it as an MP5N which is a model developed specifically for the US navy, with an ambidextrous trigger group, a 3-lug/threaded barrel for attaching a sound suppressor and a retractable stock.¹ How she knew all that, Innay wasn't sure. The information had just seemed to come.

The gun was trained on a seal hunter who had his arms raised. Innay hurriedly closed the book. There may be more of these titles, but she really didn't want to know.

Despite the chill in the air, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead. Innay could hear someone panting, then realized it was her. Calming herself, she breathed in deeply, and exhaled through the mouth. Wiping the back of her hand across her forehead, she set the book down and began packing the things back into her pack, leaving the torch on the bed. She wasn't going to leave this place without the pack. She still hadn't looked in the pockets, but that didn't matter.

Slipping out of the hospital Johnny, she quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt from her pack. She wasn't going to take anything from this room besides what was hers. She made to stuff her hooded jacket in as well and paused. It was cold out. Quickly, she put it on then shucked the backpack on. Adjusting the straps and securing the clasps, she was ready. It occurred fleetingly that maybe she should look in the pack for a mobile or some money, but Innay was ready to go _now_ and if she didn't, she didn't know when she would get the guts to do so again.

Silently she thanked that awful image of the baby seal for moving her. Drawing the hood over her head so it would absorb any or all light, Innay turned the doorknob slowly. Peeking through the slit, the hallway was quiet and empty.

Getting an idea, she went back to the bed, stuffed the two pillows and the extra from the cupboard under the blankets, beating out the lumps. Then she released the black out curtains.

Her hand on the door knob, she checked the room again to make sure that nothing looked out of place. Innay snorted. _Everything_ was out of place. Ninja-like, she squeezed out of the smallest opening possible and closed the door behind her with no more than a soft '_click_'.

The clock glowed 5:44.

¹**_Author's Note: Information thus far is accurate. Thank you wikipedia! I love you to the max. Also thank you to – scottsdalegunclub . com / mga / mp5 . php. Ambidextrous. Amazing word._**

**

* * *

**

**This story is turning out much longer than I expected. And I've had so many new wonderful ideas! Thanks to a lovely lady that you will read about in later chapters. ;0)**

I write because I want to.


	13. CLICK

**_I always feel that there is more to Ranmaru than the comic lets on. He has to be incredibly intelligent to play all the ladies doesn't he? I hope he puts his brain to good use._**

xSTICKYxNOTEx: I oughta dedicate this story to you or something. But this is meant for the Lord of Boredom - Work. Sigh.

* * *

Ranmaru couldn't get the mysterious girl out of his head.

Though not in the sense of how he usually thought of girls, or more recently, of Tamao.

Takenaga had said that they'd wait till tomorrow (technically, today, since it WAS nearly dawn) when she awoke to ask questions. Usually, he would agree with the Heir of the _Ikebana_ conglomerate, but, he didn't think that this girl would respond favorably to waking up in a strange house and then being questioned and confronted by four (drop dead gorgeous) guys and one (creepy to the max) girl. He was pretty sure that he could charm answers out of her himself.

Mind made up, he was grateful for the decision and activity as he had been tossing and turning since Yuki had dropped by and said that he had gone in and checked on her already and that he was going to bed. He glanced at the clock. It was already 6:30. Frustrated at his complete waste of a night's sleep, he hurried to get decent. He didn't want anyone to see him or they'd try to dissuade him from his course of action, or worse, join him.

He knocked softly on her door, worried that Sunako might hear. Expecting that she would still be asleep, he didn't expect an answer, and he was not disappointed. Opening the door boldly, he closed it with a resounding click, but not loud enough that Sunako would hear it in the next room. He was hoping to wake the girl up without having to actually touch or speak to her. No movement. Someone had un-tied the blackout curtains. Maybe it was Yuki. He cleared his throat, adding in a small cough.

No sounds were heard.

The clock seemed to glow accusingly. 6:34.

Ranmaru suddenly didn't think he wanted wake the girl up intentionally. Walking across the room quickly, he figured he'd just draw the curtains back so she wouldn't be so surprised when she woke up. And hopefully, the _sun_ would wake her.

The rustle of the heavy curtains wouldn't wake a mouse up, so he didn't worry about it as he tied back the curtain at the foot of the bed. He moved to the left of the bed and drew that curtain back. The body under the blankets was very still. Ranmaru respected a heavy sleeper, he was one of those kinds after all. The sun was rising as the peeking rays came through the glass door. Ranmaru hurried to draw back the curtain on the right side of the bed as the sun would come from that side.

He didn't want to be in the room when she woke up. This girl who could fly might be able to do other things. Other things that might be able to hurt him. Like Sunako. Ranmaru shivered. He _really_ didn't want to be here when she woke.

His long fingers (_"I really do have gorgeous fingers"_) made quick work of the ties and Ranmaru beat a hasty retreat. He quietly pulled the door open and stopped midway. Her backpack. It wasn't at the side table. Ranmaru was sure, because he had carried it up and placed it there. Takenaga admitted that it gave him the creeps, Yuki didn't like the eye and Kyohei didn't care. Her backpack was no longer where it was suppose to be.

Striding to the bed, he pulled the blankets back.

Pillows.

Ranmaru turned and ran out of the room. He didn't think that she would have carried her backpack if she had intended to check the mansion out. She must have thought to escape again. While it was possible that she had flown off from the balcony, if Kyohei was to be believed (which Ranmaru did), they'd have no idea when.

Forgoing knocking in the face of an emergency, he swung Takenaga's door wide open and yanked the youth out of bed. "SHE'S GONE! SHE'S FLOWN AWAY!"

For the second time in two days, Takenaga heard about someone flying. He groaned before pulling himself out of bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What time is it?" He asked the breathless Ranmaru.

"6 plus. But listen! Ithoughttogoandquestionheralone,soshewouldn'tbesoscared.ButthenIchangedmymindandwhenIwasleavingtheroom,Irealisedherbackpackwasgone!AndwhenIpulledbacktheblanketsonherbed,therewereonlypillowsproppeduptolooklikeabody!"

Takenaga quirked an eyebrow at the breathless red head. "Ranmaru, it's too early for me to catch any of that."

"It doesn't matter! We have to find her!"

"Fine, fine. Go wake Yuki and Kyohei. Let me clean up and we'll all meet in the living room at 7." Takenaga shooed him off . Ranmaru was gone before he was finished. Heaving a sigh, Takenaga looked around the room blearily. This really was more trouble than it was worth. But now they all wanted answers, and they were going to get some.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

When Takenaga entered the room, Kyohei was lounging on one couch, snoring, Yuki was nervously biting his nails on another and Ranmaru was pacing near the window. He had never seen Ranmaru this worked up about any girl besides Tamao. He shook his head. Ranmaru would not explain if he didn't want to, there was no point asking or wondering.

Yuki stood when he saw Takenaga and shook Kyohei awake. The dozing boy awoke with a snort and sat up slightly straighter.

"Do we really want to bother looking for her? She's tried to run away twice already, what does it matter? I say we let her go and we get on with our lives. Maybe she went home." An expected response from Kyohei seeing as he had been awakened too early for his liking.

Ranmaru stopped pacing and came to stand behind the couch Kyohei was lounging on. "Of course we need to look for her! She's hurt and she attacked Takenaga yesterday! She should at least apologize!" Takenaga wasn't fooled one bit. Ranmaru had his reasons for wanting to find her. Though, his chest really was quite sore. And an apology would be nice.

"Where's Sunako?" Yuki suddenly asked.

Ranmaru looked sheepish. "Takenaga said to wake you and Kyohei… And I was worried that she'd blame me for the girl's disappearance. Also, I was scared that she'd run off on her on and look for the girl, like she did Hiroshi. She seemed attached to the girl." Takenaga agreed with Ranmaru's assessment. Sunako had insisted on looking after the girl from the moment she was in the hospital. The hospital staff thought they were sisters, so they allowed her to stay despite being terrified of Sunako.

"It's alright. We'll handle this ourselves. Yuki, check out the town centre. Ranmaru, go back to the hospital, maybe she went there. Kyohei, you go to the bus station. I'll head to the train station." Ranmaru and Yuki left quickly and Kyohei followed reluctantly. Takenaga briefly considered waking Sunako before they left, but shook his head. He locked the front door quietly behind him.

* * *

_**I hope I managed to keep everyone in character. By the way, it's not that Kyohei doesn't care, it's more that he's just tired and grumpy, kind of like how I am in the morning. NOT a morning person.**_

I write to poll. Wait... That didn't come out right... 


	14. GROWL

_**Remember to keep a look out for the time. It's really all just a conincidence. I was reading **1408** by **Stephen King** and the idea just came. That's about a hotel room on the 13th floor by the way. ;0) **_

I had a block the whole day, so I'll need to pick up the writing in the next few days/weeks/months. You get the idea.

Disclaimer: Hayakawa Tomoko need to have her head examined for creating such wonderful characters. That didn't come out quite right...

* * *

Innay wound the torch up, grimacing at the sound 

_(shirr shirr shirr)_

the dynamo made. She should have done this in the room earlier, but to go back in now meant that she wouldn't dare to leave again. She clicked it on, continuing to wind it. The LED bulbs were bright but only gave her about 4 feet of light. She passed

_(the Queen's)_

Sunako's door, unconsciously tip-toeing. Though she had read the manga so many times before, she didn't have a mental map of the mansion and she wanted to be sure of where she went. She blamed that on the flighty, but extremely talented artist. She was much calmer now. She wasn't sure why. But she knew what she was doing and what she had to do.

For a moment she considered slipping into Sunako's

_(lair)_

room and waking her to ask some questions. But then, she didn't understand a lot of Japanese, so what was the point? She carried on down the dark corridor, the only other illumination coming from the window at the far end which glowed with the colors of a mix between the fading moon and the far away sun.

Not hesitating any longer, Innay took measured strides to the end of the corridor, thankful to find the staircase. She descended

_(like a descent of woodpeckers)_

as quietly as possible, her bare feet barely shuffling the shag carpet. _"This carpet would be perfect for generating static electricity."_ Speaking of electricity, Innay stopped winding the torch for fear that someone would hear it and wake up. She had no idea if the boys were light sleepers, and there were four of them.

Four young men.

Four strong young men.

Four strong, strapping young men.

Four strong, strapping and drop dead 'break-out-the-whip-cream' gorgeous young men.

Suddenly Innay wasn't so sure she wanted to leave. Shaking her head ruefully, she chuckled to herself as she reached the first floor. She was nearly back to normal, and boy did she love normalcy. She needed to borrow some shoes though, but first, she wanted to settle the matter of the grumbling

_(gRRRRRRRRRRRowl)_

stomach.

At the foot of the grand staircase, there was an open doorway to her left, her best bet. There was no way she wanted to push open the double doors to her right. Shining the torch light towards the entrance, the beam was

_(eagerly devoured)_

eaten up by the darkness. Seeing this, Innay had an idea of what to expect.

Switching off the torch, she tiptoed over the side of the entrance and poked her head out slowly. The dining room. But the dark was more than just the pre-dawn shadow and Innay knew why. Skirting the walls of the immense dining room, she came to another open entry way. The inky darkness seemed almost tangible and was definitely coming from here.

She stuck her hand out experimentally and it

_(was devoured eagerly)_

disappeared in the gloom. She had hit paydirt. Peeking out from the side of the entrance once again, she saw it. Her. Therein stood Nakahara Sunako, who was watching the microwave intently, unconsciously releasing the dark shroud of her mind into the atmosphere. Talk about multi-tasking. And the offended organ chose this time to let Innay know of its discontent.

_(gRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRowl)_

Sunako didn't respond when she heard the distinct sound of a stomach growling, one she definitely knew well since her own had been making the same sound for some time now. Not speaking, she moved towards the refrigerator and got the other wrapped dinner out. She heard the girl move into the kitchen, set something down and sit at the high counter. Normally Sunako would rather cook something herself, but she was still groggy and also didn't want the food to go to waste. When the microwave pinged its completion, she used the mitts to take the tray out, placed them on the counter next to the microwave and popped the other one in.

Turning around, she carried the tray to the counter, removed the foil to release the pent up aroma. The girl's and her stomach growled in unison. Surprised by the sound, the girl looked up from the intense study of her hands. Sunako simply pushed the tray towards her.

"Do you want to eat this?"

To Innay, she heard: "Tabemasu?" which, thanks to her brief Japanese language classes, she understood to be something like, "Want to eat?" or something along those lines. She bowed her head and reached for the pair of chopsticks Sunako held out to her. She watched Sunako turn back to the microwave.

Frantically rummaging through her brain, she remembered what she wanted to say. "Isshoni? Isshoni taberu?" She hoped she was right.

Sunako turned when she heard her voice. It was the first time that she had understood what the girl had to said.

"Yes, I'll eat with you." The girl smiled in relief and a touch of pride. Sunako found herself starting to smile as well. The girl's smile just did that. It made you want to smile back. So she did.

Innay was relieved when Sunako had turned and said: "Hai, isshoni taberu." Proud that she had gotten _something _right, she smiled at Sunako, happy to see Sunako smile back. She pushed the hood of her jacket back. _"I'm making some headway here. Maybe she can explain what's going on through some rudimentary Japanese."_

The two girls waited for the microwave to ping again and Sunako joined the girl at the counter.

"Itadakimasu." Sunako dug into the food with gusto. When she realized the other side of the counter was still silent, she looked up. The girl's hands were clasped together and her head was bowed. Her hair fell in front of her face, curtaining it from view. After a few seconds, the girl looked up to see Sunako watching. She smiled her 'smile-with-me' smile again, broke the chopsticks apart and announced: "Itadakimasu."

Innay knew enough about Japanese customs to know what she must say before and after meals, but she still said her usual thanks before a meal. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled the glorious smell of seasoned fish, pickled vegetables and some of the oily residue of the tempura. Innay set to work filling the bottomless pit that was her stomach.

The two ate in silence. The clock on the microwave shone 6:16, just as Ranmaru was still deciding whether or not to get out of bed and talk to Innay.

* * *

_**Just so you know, I REALLY have taken Japanese language classes in school before. So yeah. That's about the summary of most of what I remember. Abit more will appear later, but otherwise, I'm hopeless. **_

Hontou ni baka. Oh that too!

I wanna writeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... 

**PS: xSTICKYxNOTEx: I know which manga is next already!**


	15. SLURP

**_Things around here are essentially boring. But hey, I've got a My Chemical Romance concert to attend tomorrow, I'm sure I'll go KERAYZ! (read: crazy) _**

I do love my Honesty Notes. And that should do for my rambling.

Disclaimer: Hayakawa Tomoko is not related to me in any way. We didn't have a meal together, give each other blood or bite each other's necks.

* * *

The four boys met in the town square, Yuki and Ranmaru breathless from rushing from their respective search sites.

The clock atop the tower read 9:01 and Kyohei was munching on a stick of fried tako, using it as a standby till he got home to Sunako's breakfast. Takenaga sat next to him on the stone bench, morosely chewing the inside of his cheek. Ranmaru was glugging down a can of iced coffee as Yuki polished off the remains of Takenaga's bottle of mineral water.

None of the boys had heard, seen, smelt, tasted, felt or found anything about the mysterious flyer. Takenaga decided that they should all head home for breakfast and discuss more plans again then. The sleep deprived youths shone the way home as they left swooning and bleeding fans in their wake.¹

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The smell of breakfast the boys expected did not greet them when they entered. Changing from their shoes into house slippers, a black pair of canvas shoes stood leaning against each other on the top shelf of the shoe rack.

They were _her_ shoes. It was made of canvas but laced up front. Almost like boots, having a high cut, but none of the boys had ever seen such shoes before. Innay would have called them her 'High-Cutting, High-Stepping Vampiric Chuckeroos'. The laces were bright red, striking against the black canvas.²

Yuki stashed them in the cupboard, hopping Sunako hadn't noticed them yet.

Heading into the dining room on route to the kitchen in search of food, there was Noi, fussing over the cling-wrapped food that Sunako had left for them. Looking up, a smile lit up her face as her eyes fell on Takenaga.

"Ah! Takenaga! You're back!" She untied the apron strings that she had put on to look more 'wifely' and draped it haphazardly over a chair.

"Noi dear, why are you here? And where's Sunako?" Takenaga shrugged out of his jacket and muffler, draping it neatly over the same chair.

Noi picked his clothing up, bustled out to the entrance, hung it on the coat rack and came back before answering.

"I haven't seen you since school ended, so I though I'd pop by and make breakfast, but Sunako was up already, saying that she was hungry and she had made breakfast already. She went back up to her room already." She explained, as she plopped herself at the table, clearly intending to be seated next to Takenaga while they took their meal.

"It's only been 4 days." Kyohei was quick to point out as he took his seat opposite Takenaga and stole an egg roll from her plate.

"Hey! That's mine!" Noi returned the favor, picking a wiener octopus at the same time.

"Hey! You took something else!" And the fight escalated. The other three participants at the table ate their meals quietly,

"Ack! Don't throw the rice!"

cleared their empty plates,

"That'll teach you!"

placed them in the kitchen sink,

"No! Not the juice! It's liquid and it'll stain stupid!"

thanked Sunako for the meal even though she wasn't there,

"Hey that's cheating!"

and came back into the dining room to slink along the walls out of the rooms as to avoid the crossfire.

"Grrr… I wanted to eat that!"

The trio decided that they'd catch some sleep first before telling Sunako that her new best friend had disappeared on them once again and they headed up to their rooms, intent to get to the safe haven before the two militants in the dining room noticed their absence.

Which they did not till all the food on their plates had disappeared. "Hey where's Takenaga gone? I wanted him to go out with me today." Noi pouted as she realized that they were the only two left in the room.

Well, the only one now that Kyohei had headed into the kitchen to get something to eat. Sunako tended to make more than enough… there it was! Grinning in satisfaction, Kyohei dragged the containers out of the fridge to heat up some food for himself. Maybe he'll finish them all. His grin widened at the thought.

Finally realizing the mess they'd made, Noi frantically began picking up food. Sunako would not be happy to see food wasted.

"Hey Kyohei! We have to clean up some before Sunako finds out!"

"Why do I have to? You started it. You clean it." He was currently stuffing himself with some chuka idako.³

Marching into the kitchen, Noi stood with her hands on her hips. "I did NOT start it, and anyway, if Sunako finds out we wasted food, she'll go berserk or worse, she won't cook for you!"

That made sense to Kyohei so he set his container of food aside and began the work to cleaning up Waterloo. No sense forgoing his fried prawns.

¹_**Author's Honesty Note: I just wanted to see this scene though it doesn't have much to do with the story. 80b**_

²_**Author's Note: I just described a pair of shoes that approximately 2 million other people in the world own. That's right; a pair of black high cut converse chucks with red laces. But I do so love my shoes... They're my only Chucks. I would want Innay to have them. ;0**_

³_**Author's Note: Seasoned baby octopus. I love this stuff. Yummy. (craves some)

* * *

I don't really like Noi, just so you're clear. She doesn't think as much as I'd like. Kind of like one of thsoe glorified fan-girls.**_


	16. CLINK

_**Er... The chapters are getting abit shorter, cause I want them to be abit more exciting. The next few will shed abit more into what happened to Innay. But this chapter is kinda... important I guess. Unlike the last one, like I told xSTICKYxNOTEx, twas just for fun. (shrugs) **_

Oh yeah! Just because I'm so happy and I wanna tell the whole world though probably only one or two people will read this, the concert last night was AWESOME! I'm grateful I got to see My Chemical Romance** at least once in my life. Next, **The Used**! And my old body is aching like a ... what Mr. Gerard Way said about the crowd. You know how vulgar he is. (I'm such a prude, but I'll forgive him this time. After all, he called us motherthating beautiful. How can anyone argue with that? Though he probably says that at all shows. Sigh...) I really need to warm up before jumping, head-banging and screaming. Sigh... And I love that I got it all on video, albeit with crappy sound quality. (shrugs)**

* * *

The breakfast communion had been a silent affair. Innay wasn't sure if she was thankful for the silence or if she should be worried. A bystander would have thought that the meal was a silent comedy play. 

Neither girls realized that they had set their chopsticks down at the exact same moment, reached for their drink glasses at the exact same moment and drank from it in the exact same manner, then set it back down at the exact same moment, picked up their chopsticks again at the exact same moment, adjusted their grip in the exact same manner, then set about to eating at the exact same time.

Move aside Charlie Chaplin, here's the duo of Sunaky!

They finished at the same time and announced their appreciation for the meal together. That startled a giggle out of Innay. She hastily covered her mouth as the sound, though quiet, seemed loud in the piercing silence. Sunako gave a small smile as she cleared away the trays. Innay hurried to help her. She couldn't remember Sunako smiling so much at one go in the manga.

Innay threw the trays away as Sunako washed the utensils and glasses. She still wanted to go, but she wasn't sure how now. She figured now would be as good a time to try and talk.

"Eto, Sunako." Said girl whipped around like a gun had been shot. She stared at Innay in shock.

"_What? What did I do? I only called her name… Oh. How do I know her name."_ Innay mentally cursed herself for that bit of stupidity. She had to salvage this.

"Eto, eh, onamaewa Innay-desu. Hajimemashite." Innay hoped that was the right introduction.

Sunako had been so stunned to hear the girl call her name. How did she know her name? The girl continued hesitantly: "My name is Innay. Nice to meet you."

"Innay?" Innay nodded vigorously. "Hai!"

Sunako thought about it. "Want to help me prepare breakfast?"

Innay was at a loss to what she said. She could only make out 'isshoni' and 'gohan' somewhere.

Sunako seemed to sense this. _"Ah, she does not speak a lot of Japanese. So she really isn't a local."_

"Would you like to make breakfast with me?" Innay was surprised by the polite English, though heavily accented.

"Eto… Hai?" Innay really wanted to talk, but that wasn't going to work out when she couldn't understand what Sunako was saying.

Sunako nodded and started to prepare her workspace. She reached up… and Innay passed her a mixing bowl. Her hand reached for the cutlery drawer… and Innay passed her a pair of chopsticks. She looked towards the refrigerator… and Innay opened it and removed a dozen eggs.

Once again silence fell as the two worked as one in silence. Innay somehow anticipated Sunako's needs and the two danced around each other as if they had been born conjunct twins.

The microwave's glow was dimming in the growing light from the kitchen window, but they could still see the time. 7:33.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

When at last breakfast was done and made for the four boys and then some, the same clock showed 8:41. This was proven by the sun that practically poured itself into the kitchen, bathing the room in the golden light. Innay stood in front of the opened window and bathed herself in the warm sun as the cold morning breeze came through. She closed her eyes and felt better than she ever had. Stretching, she was reminded that she had been in an accident some time ago.

Her right hand protested sharply at being stretched, a sharp tearing pain lengthened from her elbow to the palm. Wincing and drawing her hand close to her body, Innay cradled it in hope that Sunako had not seen the moment of weakness. She couldn't see if the wound had opened again as the sleeves of her jacket were still down. She felt the aches in her legs, after all the running and sneaking about, they were bound to.

Hoisting her pack on to her shoulders, Innay was momentarily lost. She wanted to leave, but her body was telling her to rest. Then the doorbell rang. Sunako looked at Innay. Innay stared back.

"Stay."

And Sunako headed out to open the door.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Samael stood in the doorway, human and smiling with a bouquet of Apple flowers.

* * *

**_I hope I've managed to capture Sunaky. She's probably the hardest character of the whole manga, though she's the simplest! Sigh... And DUM DUM DA! Samael is back. Finally. Couldn't wait to get him back. SHWEETNESS!_**


	17. SLAM

* * *

Samael stood in the doorway, human and smiling with a bouquet of Apple flowers. 

The door slammed shut.

He pressed the doorbell again.

"Go away!" Came a muffled shout from inside.

"Georgia! You know you can't chase me away like that."

"I can try!" With that, a defiant sound of the deadbolt being thrown seemed to seal her determination to do so.

"Now now, I know you aren't happy with my plan, but you must know that I'm doing it for a good reason." Samael placed his hand on the door innocently.

"Take your filthy claws off my door! Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. You are NOT to jimmy the lock with your mind." Came the shriek again.

"Ok ok," He removed his hand and held it palm facing forward. "Come now, is this really how **Goregia the Lusty**, Queen of the Vampires should behave? Surely the others would laugh at you if they got to see that this was how you settled your marital problems."

A reluctant sniffle from inside the house signaled his triumph. As the dead bolt was thrown back, Samael stepped back from the door. The heavy door was thrown wide open. If Samael had not stepped back, he surely would have to suffer the same vibrations that rocked the house. Samael inwardly sighed. That was the problem with being married to the strongest vampire of all.

"What do you want now?" She asked coldly, her arms crossed under her bountiful breasts. Samael took a moment to enjoy the sight of his wife. The pale skinned vampire had the most amazing figure he could imagine and he did so love her natural brunette hair. Big, curly and frizzy in the back, she tended to poof them up more, while her bangs were comically straight and could cover her eyes if she so wished, though they were held back by a small purple ribbon now. There was no other like her and Samael's heart swelled with love and pride that she was his. Her heart shaped face was in a frown as she stared hard at him with her big, round indigo eyes, anger and hurt flashing alternately. Her delicious mouth was scowling, effectively hiding her fangs.

The stigma that vampires could only come out at night had long been left to stand even though it was no longer true. So was the problem with garlic. Samael had never met a vampire who had devoured more garlic than Georgia, known to other vampires as **Goregia the Lusty **for her bloodlust. Though she _was_ lusty in other areas…

"Well?" Georgia stuck her chin out defiantly. She placed her left hand on the door. "Hurry up and say what you must then go away."

"First, these are for you. They are Apple flowers. They mean 'temptation', that's what you mean to me." He smiled slyly as he held them out.

Georgia gave the flowers a stare and concentrated. They immediately wilted and died. She looked back up at Samael as if to say, _"That's what I think of you and your Apple flowers."_

"Now, maybe you could invite me in so we don't have to air our dirty laundry out for the whole neighborhood to see. We are still living among the humans in case you don't remember." Samael tossed the dead flora over his shoulder, absently dusting his hands together.

"No. We can talk here." She stood her ground, though speaking in a softer voice. All of a sudden Samael thought she sounded tired and defeated almost, and his heart melted a little.

"Come now, I'll make us some of my best brew and we'll sit at the table and talk like normal couples do. How about that Lustgummy?" Samael asked, resorting to the use of her pet name to move her. It worked. She stepped aside with an all too defeated sigh.

He entered the pristine house and she shut the door, adjusting the portal so that if she opened it again it would lead into the mountains of Transylvania. (That wasn't a stigma but vampires did like the cold air.) He headed into the kitchen of what she affectionately termed their 'Love Hovel', though it was always clean and neat. Vampires were neat freaks for some reason. Samael would never be able to figure it out, but he deeply appreciated it. He got out the tea leaves and put the kettle down while she watched him listlessly.

"You like looking human alot don't you?" She suddenly asked.

"It's good for getting things done." He replied as his nimble hands weighed and tossed the tea leaves into the mesh teabag.

"But you pay so much attention to the details. It takes so much energy to do that." She was talking about his clothes and hair, the hardest part of the glamour.

"Well, God is in the details." He grinned over his shoulder, showing her his wicked sharp canines.

"God would never be anywhere near you." She retorted. He turned back to the whistling kettle and continued.

For a moment, the only sounds heard were that of Samael pouring the hot water into the teapot.

"He really hates you, you know." She started again.

"Who?" Samael asked, knowing full well who she spoke of.

"God. I think he hates me too. Especially for marrying you."

Samael turned to face the woman that had single handedly overthrown the entire Vampiric Court, including the King & Queen's personal guards, drank the blood of the Queen in front of the King and staked the King herself.

"Honey, do you remember a time when you didn't even _want_ to be a vampire?"

Georgia looked away, her hands crossed limply, as she recalled that fateful day she was bitten.

* * *

**_I had thought about writing something before the chapter, but changed my mind. I wonder if you understood what I wrote. If you didn't, the truth is, Samael didn't knock on the Nakahara Mansion door. He knocked on his wife's door. I just swapped the scenes for that bit of fun. _**

The idea for Georgia actually came from a friend so named. She wanted a vampire in the story, and I couldn't imagine it being anyone else beside her. She's the little sister I never had and this is my appreciation to the inspiration she gave me. Vampires are becoming quite the 'in-thing' now aren't they?

Maybe one day she'll let me post the story that she's written, except that it's an original, so it can't be posted on FFN. But I'll figure something out eventually. Meanwhile, xSTICKYxNOTEx, I hope it was exciting enough.

The next chapter will reveal Georgia's memories. Well a little. Sigh... 


	18. BURP

_**Ok, for the one and only loyal reader (Yes xSTICKYxNOTEx, that's you) I've finally updated this blasted story. Haha... And I made it an **extra **long chapter just for you. I've finally figured out how to round this story up, but it'll still be awhile yet. Sigh... I need to fit in the one scene that I desperately want, but that shouldn't be much of an issue soon. I've got it all planned out. But we know how plans go... Not the way I want them to. Still.**_

OH YES! UPDATE! In case anyone wants to, you can go to my homepage and view the pictures of the Red Eye (done in pencil) and the Murder of Crows. It's in the Scraps__** book. Wasn't sure how to fit it into my usual deviations. I also found out that it is **BLUIDY **hard to upload fanfiction on that site. Sigh. Ok. I'll start writing again soon, but packing for my trip is driving me nutso. (rolls eyes) Well, it's gotta be done.**

Disclaimer: Hayakawa Tomoko would be happy that I've borrowed her characters and driven them to the brink of insanity. Also, Georgia is a real person, not a real vampire, and I don't own her or her gorgeousness. So sad that she'll never see this online. Only cause she's not on FFN. Sigh.

* * *

She'd just turned 21 and she had had a small birthday party at home, with her whole family and many friends. The young man that tended to her father's horses had been invited and he sat shyly in the corner farthest from her. 

_The only reason she had not been married out yet was that her parents loved her too much and were very much unwilling to let her go, but with her coming of 21, if they did not let her go soon, she may never have the chance to do so. _

_Her father had seen how she looked at the stable hand, and he knew the boy, although only 23, was a hardworker and very diligent. Also, it didn't hurt that the boy lived on their property, so she could still be close to home._

_The party had gone well, with much merry making, cake eating, rowdy dancing and joyful laughing. Then the young man had boldly asked her to come out with him to the stable, he wanted to give her his present. _

_Shy, but pleased, she agreed to sneak out at the most opportune moment. He nodded and left first, saying that he wanted to get it from his cottage first. Georgia took the moment that her parents took to the dance floor as the best time to slip out and she hurried to the stables._

_The stable door had been left ajar and Georgia felt a thrill of excitement. Quietly squeezing through the gap, she heard the horses moving around restlessly, whinnying excitedly. _

_There was also a soft sucking sound, then a contented burp. _

_Georgia's head whipped towards the burp and there in the moonlight, was the start of all her pains – the vampire known as Missa Solemnis. In her arms lay the limp body of the stable hand, blood dripping from the twin puncture wounds on his exposed left breast. The same blood was smeared along the vampire's chin and she rubbed at it with the back of her hand._

"_I do so love the taste of blood in love. And now here comes dessert! Luvly!"_

_Georgia would never forget the fear she felt when the vampire flew at her. Her hands had been searching around for anything, anything she could use, but there was nothing. The vampire hit her and pushed her backwards, pinning her against the stable door. _

_Her hands splayed out around her, still searching, searching for anything._

_The vampire saw the fear in her eyes and smiled evilly. "It won't hurt dearie."_

"_Not for very long anyway." _

_  
And she lowered her head to Georgia's neck. Georgia felt the fangs puncture her skin and for a second, felt a sense of ecstasy. _

_Her hands, still searching had hit upon something. They were the wooden tent pegs that her father used for camping on hunting trips. Gripping it hard, Georgia regained some sense. _

_The vampire, intent on feeding had slackened her hold on Georgia and Georgia used this to her advantage, shoving the vampire back violently, holding the stake with both hands and pushed it against the vampire's chest._

_Missa, stunned, could only do her best to retreat from the wicked sharp point of the wooden peg, but the stable was small and she tripped over the body of the stablehand._

_Georgia's stake descended in a spray of crimson glitter. In her haze of anger at being the victim, Georgia pounded on the stake with her fists, effectively nailing the vampire to the ground. When the body beneath her finally stilled and dispersed in dust, Georgia had collapsed to the ground, exhausted. _

_Her right hand reached up and touched the bite marks. They came away with blood. Delicious blood._

_Georgia licked her fingers delicately. Her blood tasted of anger, exhaustion and a tinge of madness. She started to suckle her fingers, cleaning every bit of the blood from each crease. _

_She knew that she couldn't go back home anymore. She wouldn't fit in anywhere._

_Tears of anger and loneliness welled up as she allowed self-pity to drown her._

Samael watched his wife as she went through her history, knowing every bit of it. He had been watching her for some time since her birth. He had intended to approach her when she came of age, the very next day in fact, but when he had caught sight of the vampire, he had decided to let things happen naturally.

When she shook herself out of her memories, she appeared to be resigned, tired and even old, though her body had not aged a day since her 21st birthday, which had been more than 200 years ago.

"I know why you're doing this, but not the way. To just throw her into this situation… it's like how it was for me. I didn't have a choice. That's what made me so angry."

Samael stayed silent, having heard this line numerous times.

"You know, she is more powerful than you. You're not immortal. She is."

Samael knew the risks, he said as much.

"You're the only thing I wouldn't be able to bear to leave behind." He declared as he strode towards her and enveloped her in a warm embrace. Georgia gave a token push, but ultimately melted into his arms.

"And I don't want you to leave me behind, alone again."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Noi stood in the doorway, beaming and shining brightly, causing Sunako to throw her hands up to protect her from the glare of a dazzling Creature of the Light.

"Ugh… Too dazzling…"

"Sunako! Where's Takenaga?" The blonde demanded as she removed her shoes and changed into house slippers.

"I'm coming in now." She hastily added.

"Too late for that." Sunako mumbled. "I don't know if he's still sleeping or if he went out early. Check for yourself. There's breakfast on the table and I'm going up to my room."

"Alright! I'll help out with breakfast for you." Naturally, the wheels turning in her head were actually saying:

"**I'll help Takenaga with his breakfast. One mouth at a time. Ahhh…"**

Thus satisfied, Noi headed up to Takenaga's room whilst Sunako headed back to the kitchen, hoping that Innay was still there. A very empty kitchen awaited her. Sunako sighed, shook her head and headed up to her room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Innay could see the glow of Noi's aura from the kitchen and she shied away from it as well. Not wanting to meet the new comer, she slipped out of the other kitchen exit. She found her self at one end of a corridor. To her right, one of the doors had a sign hanging from it. She had no idea what it said, but the characters looked similar to the one on the sign on Sunako's door. This must be Sunako's toilet.

Innay giggled to herself as she remembered that chapter when Sunako catches sight of Kyohei naked in her bathroom. All those rubber duckies! Heading down the corridor, she passed an entryway on the left (leading to the grand staircase) and another door on the right, this one Innay cautiously cracked open and peeped in.

Brooms, mops, the vacuum, cleaning supplies, rags. Closet. Innay closed the door quietly.

A door at the end of the corridor was grand and beckoned, but Innay had an idea where that might lead to. The same room the double doors to the right of the grand staircase led to. Innay doubled back to the entryway and peered out, trying hard to remain as small as possible.

She could hear someone going up the stairs. Maybe it was Noi.

The person started to sing a silly ditty.

Definitely Noi.

Pressing herself against the wall, Innay crept towards the side of the staircase. Craning her neck, she caught a fleeting glimpse of Noi turning left, the opposite direction of Sunako's room. She judged it safe to leave now, though she had no idea where Sunako was.

Eager to get moving, she straightened and turned towards the door.

"Sunako!" The surprised squeak escaped her before she could control herself.

The dark child was standing in the doorway to the dining room.

Innay's eyes darted between the door and Sunako, sizing up the distance of either.

"Are your hands better?" Sunako spoke, again in heavily-accented English.

"Huh?" Was Innay's most intelligent reply.

"Your hands. Red color." Sunako held her own up, palms facing toward herself. Her grasp of English grammar was good, but her vocabulary was rudimentary.

Innay looked at her hands, found nothing amiss and showed them to Sunako. Sunako cocked her head quizzically, crossed the hall and grabbed Innay's hands. Innay shrank back.

"Won't hurt you." Sunako appeared to be studying her fingernails. Innay relaxed a degree. She was right. What was she so jumpy about?

Putting aside the fact that she was living in a comic.

The sound of Noi's voice from upstairs floated down and Sunako could hear her displeasure to find Takenaga not in his room. The hands she held jumped at the sound and she looked into Innay's face, the girl appeared nervous, unlike when they had been in the kitchen earlier.

A split second decision later, Sunako had dragged Innay up the stairs at a run and had her halfway down the corridor when she could hear Noi calling for her. She was coming around the corner. Yanking open her room door, she practically shoved the wide-eyed girl into the room, before slamming her door (silently) shut again and turning around to face Noi.

"Sunako! What's wrong? You're panting." Noi quickly advanced and reached out to feel Sunako's forehead. Sunako bore Noi's concern for a moment.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just tired from waking up early and preparing breakfast for those Creatures of the Light. I think I'm going to rest some now." Sunako's hand gripped the doorknob, willing Noi to go downstairs to wait.

"Ah ok! Takenaga's not in, so I think I'll wait in the dining room and set the table. Is that ok?"

Sunako agreed gratefully and waited till Noi had turned back around the corner towards the staircase. With a flick of the wrist, she was in her room and had locked the door behind her. Letting out her breath, she sagged against the door. Espionage was NOT for her. As her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, she saw the girl staring up at her shelf of formaldehyde samples.

"That's gross." Innay declared out loud, more to herself. "But, expected of Sunako."

She strolled over the Hiroshi and gave his shiny head a rub. "Hi Hiroshi, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Please, just call me Innay." Innay laughed to herself and went on to greet Josephine, Akira and John.

"Hello Josephine, call me Innay. What? You want me to wear your boa? That's most gracious of you. But I'm sure it looks much better on you."

"Ah Akira, you may be limbless, but ever watchful aren't you? The pleasure is all mine. No really!'

"John, to be, or not to be! I'm sure you've met some wanna-be Shakesperian actors in your deadtime. Get it? Deadtime?"

Sunako watched all this in same sense of surprise as she had experienced when Innay had called her name. She didn't understand what Innay was saying, but she knew she was addressing each one by their name. How did she know her anatomical models by name?

Innay finally seemed aware that Sunako was in the room and hastily set John the Skull back down. "Sorry, I just… thought… to introduce myself." She finished lamely, shrugging.

Sunako crossed over and picked John up, took Innay's hand and put John in it. "Ok." And smiled brilliantly.

She really was a fellow **Comrade of the Dark**! Sunako's insides warmed at the thought of being able to discuss torture techniques together. She must have some sort of dark knowledge so as to know all the names. Perhaps Innay would share the knowledge with her if she asked nicely! Sunako could just envision herself happily immersed further in the dark arts.

Innay had an idea of what Sunako must have been thinking, for the dark youth was smiling blissfully, off in her own dark universe. Innay didn't blame her. The truth was, Innay did like skeletons too. But she didn't really like blood. Innay hoped that Sunako wouldn't force her to watch one of her horror flicks with her. She was pretty sure she'd have nightmares if she did.

Especially if someone was going to be eating another person's XXX.

Sunako had turned to her and appeared to be shining herself. She started asking questions rapidly, leaving Innay confused and dazed. She concentrated on the questions, trying her best to catch words that she knew so that maybe she could construct the question with what little she knew.

'Where', 'what', 'movie', 'like', 'blood splatter' (in English)? Did she just ask her what movie did she like? Or was it what blood splatter did she like? Innay concentrated fiercely on the gunfire questions, her brow furrowing.

Unnoticed by either girls, Innay's lunulas had started to turn blood red again.

And were bright red when Innay found herself replying all of Sunako's questions.

In fluent Japanese.

* * *

**_Missa-chan, if you read this, I didn't make you out to be the bad vampire cause I don't like Julia. In case you were thinking that. I just, well, the opportunity came up to use your glorious nickname, and well, you're still one wicked cool vampire. (half-assed explanation that is ACTUALLY completely true)_**


	19. NOTICE

_**

* * *

Hello people.**_

_**Bad news and good news. For anyone that is bothered anyway.**_

_**I've moved from Singapore to Australia and internet at home is flakey. So yeah, that's also my excuse for why I haven't updated in… I dunno... eons? Anyway, I've got alotta stuff written up for Innay's trip which I'm gonna put up super soon as long as I remember to put it on my thumbdrive. So yeah…I'll still chapterise it, cause that's what I love doing, but yeah.**_

_**Sorry for anyone who cares and tough for anyone who doesn't.

* * *

**_


	20. SQUIGGLE

**_Finally I manage to remember to transfer my writing. Honestly.  
This is actually two chapters together, just to make it nice and long and to make up for my absolutely slackness. _**

**_A few mroe chapters of explanaitions and Innay will be off on the rest of her grand trip. I love writing about her. I really truly do._**

**_Disclaimer: Hayakawa Tomoko owns the brillance and darkness of the Fab Four ( 2) and Sunaky. I just bask in the light and savour the dark._**

* * *

Kyohei and Noi had finally finished with cleaning up most of the mess. He had picked up all the food items he could and Noi had gotten the mop out of the closet to mop up the spilt juice and various other stains. The table cloth would have to be washed, but they could put that down as the usual messes made while eating.

Noi glanced at the wall clock. It was after 12pm already! What about her date with Takenaga? With a cry of dismay, she fled the room in search of the boy.

Kyohei tossed the rag he had been using to mop the soy sauce stain off the wall with back into the pail and made to the kitchen to pour the brownish contents down the sink.

His eyes caught sight of the two trays in the bin. Did Sunako eat both? Or had the girl eaten before she had left? That wasn't possible, the trays were stacked together.

The cogs under the matt of gold hair were working furiously and Kyohei left the pail in the sink as he rushed up to Sunako's room. Not bothering to knock, he swung the door inwards.

The television was on, frozen at the picture of Freddy raising the chainsaw. Sunako lay on the ground, apparently having fallen asleep while watching one of her favorite movies. Even the sudden invasion of his brilliance didn't cause a stir from the slumbering beauty.

Kyohei gripped the girl by her shoulders and tried to shake her awake.

"Sunako, Sunako! Hey, wake up!"

He pinched her cheeks,  
slapped her gently,  
poked her stomach,  
rolled her over,  
pulled her arm at an unnatural angle,  
tickled her feet,  
tied her hair up in strange bunches with neon colored bands,  
used a marker to give her a moustache and goatee,  
opened her mouth and colored one of her front teeth black

and still she did not wake,

Giving up, he carried her to her bed and set her down gently and tucked her in. He pulled her hair away from her face and just sat, watching her for a bit.

"What are we to do with you? You'll never change into a lady, but can't you understand that you are beautiful? Make life easier for all of us and at least _pretend_ to be a lady so we poor kids can have free rent."

Kyohei continued to watch her for awhile and turned away with a shrug, sticking out his tongue. "And they say psychobabble while you sleep affects you the most."

He got up, reached for the remote to turn off the television, but changed his mind and instead set it back to play. He raided 'Sunako's Secret Snack Stash', though not quite secret to the determined snack hunter, got himself some pudding and set himself down to watch Freddy bring the chainsaw down and sever the man's arm.

"What a great show!"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Innay dreamt.

She dreamt of home, the apartment she rented to escape her overbearing parents, she dreamt of Martyr, her black, domineering, demanding tom-cat, she dreamt of Timothy, her supposed 'uncle' that she had had a crush on for a long time before deciding that they really didn't match, she dreamt of Jonathan, what a quiet but dear man and completely devoted to her, she dreamt of her mother, that sneer of hers, she dreamt of her father, the look he always gave her to convey his disappointment in his useless daughter, she dreamt of Gemma, her ever encouraging and unfailingly sweet colleague and she dreamt of someone she didn't want to name.

But the name came to her. Samael.

She dreamt of a dilapidated yet imposing castle, the entrance being door over door over door over _another_ door, the rooms large and deceiving, small and cunning, and she finally dreamt of the basement.

The dungeon of the castle.

She dreamt of the blinding lights, the shiny helmet and the squirming bug. The squirming bug caught in between the tweezers.

The squirming bug that was lowered to her forehead.

The squirming bug that burrowed into her head. She felt the wriggling thing make its way into her brain and it seemed to stop there. She dreamt of someone screaming and feeling an intense pressure. She dreamt of clawing at her forehead, vainly trying to scratch the bug out, she dreamt of being restrained and she dreamt of the sound of pounding. A door. Someone was pounding on the dungeon's door.

Samael disappeared from view and then… Innay dreamt of the bus. The accident.

Innay jerked out of bed, sweating, panting, confused and utterly terrified without knowing why.

Her freezing digits mopped the stinging sweat out from her eyes. She wanted to go home. She wanted to hold Martyr and snuggle her face in his warm, purring fur. She wanted to tell her parents that she loved them, loved them regardless. She wanted to hug 'Uncle' Timothy one more time, just one more time. She wanted to tell Jonathan that she loved him too, loved him as much as he loved her and she wanted to go back to work. Work where everyone cared for her.

Were they worried about her? Were they looking for her? Had her caring boss filed a missing person report? Did her parents even know she was missing?

Innay sat, quite alone in the darkness of the same guestroom she had first woken up in and for the first time since her father had called her a

'**Useless, parasitic, selfish slut-bitch whore' **

she cried.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Georgia was getting anxious. 

And it took _a lot_ to get her anxious.

She could just remember that day Samael had brought the unconscious Innay to her place for the procedure. He had chosen a day when he knew she'd be away on Court business, the sneaky bastard. When she had returned, she had heard screams of agony and instinctively knew that Samael had done it. She had rushed down and pounded on the lab door, screaming for him to stop and to let her in, but she had been too late.

He had gone and kidnapped the poor chit he was so sure was the one. Georgia didn't have his talent for seeing auras, but that girl had given her a chill. Georgia knew he was right about her being the one, but she didn't like his methods of making the girl face it.

_"How would Samael like being drugged, restrained, bound, kidnapped, than subjected to the Qarok?"_

The procedure to install the small demon was an intensely painful and terrifying one. The Qarok had to burrow into the brain through the skin, nerves, tissues, bone and finally the cerebrum to be truly effective. It dug all the way to where the frontal lobe met the temporal lobe and the Host has to be conscious and awake for the whole procedure to initiate. Georgia shuddered as she imagined the excruciating pain Innay must have gone through. That was also the reason why the Holder would had to have protective head gear on while handling the Qarok.

The human brain, which is the site of reason and intelligence controls the person's ability for cognition, perception, attention memory and emotions. More than that, it is also responsible for the body's posture and movement, motor abilities and learning. It typically works with the spinal cord for complex locomotion, but the spinal cord is able to execute basic reflexes and locomotion by itself.

Not to give up any sort of control, the Qarok would initiate a hostile and immediate take-over of the brain and the spinal cord, so as to have complete and unchallenged control of the body should it desire as such. This meant that it could drive the Host completely insane and have the Host throw themselves off a cliff, or give the Host power beyond what is normal. It depended on the Qarok and the Holder of the Qarok.

In this case, the Holder of Innay's Qarok is Samael. Georgia was certain that Samael meant no harm to Innay, but to have Innay running around with no control over the Qarok would be disastrous, let alone dangerous. If she is unable to get the Qarok under control, it would continue to try and take over her consciousness and ultimately Innay would be a husk, an empty shell wrapped in skin. And the Qarok would slowly devour the host's psychic energy, mental energy, physical energy. From the inside out.

To say that the Qarok has complete control over the Host doesn't mean that the Host wouldn't be able to experience feelings and pain, for the Host would still have to go through the traumatizing process of being eaten alive, inside out.

Georgia had used Qaroks before. It had been a necessary weapon against the Vampiric Court, even better since no other vampires knew of this demon. Samael had given her a few as gifts to use in her own quest. Small bug-like demons in glass jars. Happy anniversary darling.

They had to be separated or they'd try to take each other over. These demons had no real brain of their own, only training instilled in the little memory they have. Yet they were extremely powerful, being able to do what the Holder could do. They also brought out whatever psychic abilities the Host had, making the Host more powerful than the Holder, which was why all Holders had to maintain control over their Hosts.

If Innay's psychic abilities were drawn out and she didn't learn to control them, she could also harm everyone and everything around her, besides herself. And, they could lash out against the Holder. Georgia was terrified for Samael, for Innay had demonstrated an abnormally high level of psychic ability in a human being. Thus far, everything that Innay had done, were demonstrations of her own ability.

These involved healing herself, albeit partially (on the bus), changing her body built subtly (the jump from the window), making imagination reality (the flying walk, this ability Georgia feared the most, for it meant **_nothing_** was impossible for Innay), teleportation (from Samael to the house) and the instant acquiescence of knowledge (ability to speak Japanese). Samael would give her demonic strength. She would not be as powerful as Georgia, but enough for her purposes. And he had the knowledge. The knowledge that would surely drive Innay insane.

Another problem with not controlling the Qarok, was the huge amounts of psychic energy it would draw from the Host so as to channel the Host's abilities, which explained why Innay felt physically tired after. Often, the Qarok would draw energy from the people around her as well, using the Source to supplement itself, which explained why so far, Sunako had been feeling tired as well. By doing this, the Qarok created a tenuous bond between the Host and Source, which was how the two had been able to anticipate each other and be just about where the other was. In time, the bond would fade, unless copious amounts of psychic energy were drawn without killing the Source.

Georgia knew what would happen if too much was taken too fast. She had seen it between some of the vampires after she had covertly introduced the Qarok to them. She had literally seen Source vampires disintegrate before her eyes as the Host exerted him/herself. The Host themselves would become emancipated and ultimately, spontaneously combust if they could not control the Qarok and rest and nourishment was not immediately available. No one had understood how she had taken out the King and Queen's guards, but the Qarok had made quick work of them. The guard she had controlled she had driven to insanity and he had tried desperately to remove the source of the voice in his head, spending large amounts of psychic energy to physically remove the Qarok. The other three of the King and Queen's personal guards hadn't understood what was wrong and were trying to calm their comrade down. The Qarok had made use of the close proximity of the Sources to suck the very lifeforce out of them. The Vampire for Vampires.

The Host Vampire had ultimately succeeded in removing the voice. That happened when his head exploded and the brain matter splattered everywhere, leaving the Qarok without a Host or Source, when Georgia quickly stepped on it. She had had no more use for that one. She could not stomach the idea of using another.

Georgia couldn't stand the inaction. With Samael away, she figured that she'd have to take things into her own hands. She got up, twisted the portal dial and stepped out into the subdued moonlight three doors down from the Nakahara mansion.

* * *

**_I do like Georgia very much. And I know the real Georgia, whom I've unfortunately not managed to speak to in ages, wants desperately to be friends with Sunaky. We'll see that it gets done! D_**


	21. YAWN

**_Ok, this is just about all I'm up to. There's been too much work to do here for me to write so I'm gonna take forever to get to uploading now adays. It's not super exciting right now, but soon it will kinda be. Which means, just stick in there and we'll get to the good stuff soon enough!_**

* * *

Innay had been more stunned than Sunako when she started to speak Japanese fluently. It had taken her awhile to realize that she was thinking in Japanese in addition to speaking it.

Sunako had stared at her for a minute, but had continued on with her questions joyfully, illuminating the otherwise dark room with her happiness. Innay had to overcome her surprised stupor to catch Sunako's questions. Soon she found herself enjoying the way the words rolled off her tongue. There was something musical about Japanese.

Sunako had initially thought that Innay couldn't speak Japanese, but here she was speaking it so eloquently and fluently. She couldn't understand why she hadn't started speaking it earlier. She was just about to ask her when she caught herself in the midst of a yawn. Blinking away the moisture at the corner of her eyes, she looked up to apologize to see Innay doing the same. Innay looked sheepish and shrugged.

"I don't know why, but I feel tired again." She admitted, covering yet another yawn.

"So do I." Sunako motioned to do the same. "Maybe you should go rest first, we'll talk later."

"Alright. I'll be next door then." And Innay returned to the same guest room she had escaped from.

Sunako had immediately felt a little more energized and had turned on her favorite Freddy flick, only to fall asleep on the remote, pausing the movie.

The Qarok in Innay was working furiously. She had rested well the last time, and this time it hadn't used as much energy. But it felt strange. This was different from the other times Samael had used it. The other times, he had been more in touch with it's Holder, but this time…

It was more in tune with the Host. And it couldn't seem to stop the color change of the lunulas. Something was different with this Host. The Qarok settled in comfortably for its rest. It was getting to know the Host better and soon, it would make direct contact.

The Qarok slept as Innay dreamt.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The day had passed quickly with everyone doing their own thing. Nobody had thought to look into Innay's room, for they would have found her slumbering in the same bed once again.

Kyohei spent the afternoon watching Slasher Show after Slasher Show. By 5pm, Sunako had been awakened by the raucous laughing over the sound of painful screams. She came to, to the sight of the radiant Creature of the Light watching her movies, eating her pudding and laughing loudly at her favorite scenes. Did it just snort? Yes! The Creature of the Light just snorted again! Sunako was highly offended and let him know it. By launching a flying kick at him.

And the rest is as it usually happens.

Yuki on the other hand, spent the afternoon sleeping and had awoken at about 4pm. After washing up, he took to writing Machiko a letter, telling her about what was going on here, about the mysterious girl whom he thought was very pretty, but not as pretty as Machiko, no, and this girl was quite interesting, but not as interesting as Machiko, no…

And the rest is as it usually happens.

Ranmaru had left the house early, after receiving a tip off that one of his philandering buddies had seen Tamao somewhere in town she shouldn't be. He didn't know why he was compelled to make sure that she was safe, but that was simply him being a gentleman. And he was always a gentleman. That had to be why. But that didn't explain the weird feeling in his chest when he thought of her, but that was just him being hungry. And he was often hungry. That had to be why. But that still didn't explain why he was practically rushing out of the house to 'save' her, but that was just him being her Knight in Shining Armor. And he wanted to be _her_ Knight in Shining Armor. Wait. What?

And the rest is as it usually happens.

Noi had succeeded in waking the groggy Takenaga and had promptly fainted from the nose bleed as he answered his bedroom door topless and disheveled. The testosterone of the room reeked. She recovered a few minutes later to discover herself lain on his bed and him peering over her, mildly anxious. Her face had turned beet red and his soon joined when he realized his state of dishabille in the presence of a lady. A hastily thrown on outfit later, Noi had him herded out of the door, off to the Amusement Park. The boys were too busy by themselves to bother this date and she would take every advantage she could.

And the rest is as it usually happens.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Innay had cried herself hoarse and climbed back out of her pit of self-pity. She still felt tired, but her mind was too alert to go back to sleep even as she flopped back on to the bed.

She reached a hand up to touch her forehead where she remembered the bug digging into her head. Soft skin met her fingertips. No bleeding hole, no scar tissue. She pressed around the area experimentally, feeling no pain or discomfort. Her fingers raked her scalp, searching for any outward differences. Nothing.

The dream had seemed so real and so painful, had that really happened to her? She didn't want to ever meet Samael again. The terror had simmered to a numb fear. She wanted to know what had happened, but she felt that she may not be able to take knowing.

_(you are the One)_

Innay sat up sharply, looking around warily. It seemed that whenever she was in this room, it was in darkness.

"Who's there?"

She flung the bed covers back, allowing herself better mobility.

_(you ARE the One)_

"Who's there? What 'One' are you talking about?" She got out of bed and picked up the high back chair next to the bed. It wasn't much, but the speaker would have to go through the heavy chair to get to her.

_(I'm already here)_

Did the voice sound amused?

"What do you mean 'here' now? What are you talking about?" Innay's eyes strained to get a good view of her surroundings, for any movement, her ears strained to figure out where the voice was coming from.

_(from within. inside. up here)_

Innay felt a chill run down her spine. Inside and up. Her… mind?

_(you're getting smarter. it's easier to just accept than to fight)_

"Accept what?" Innay set the chair down. She had an idea what was going on… It had to be the bug.

_(I'M NOT A BUG! I'M AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL MIND DEMON KNOWN AS A QAROK!)_¹

It was definitely offended by the bug comment. Innay tried an experiment. She thought hard.

"_Can you… Can you hear me?"_

_(naturally)_

"_What ARE you? Why are you in my head? What are you doing? Are you going to hurt me? Did you bring me here? How can I get you to leave me alone? Who is Samael? What did he do to me? Why…"_

_(hold up a moment there. take it easy. you sure are different from the others. all of them would have freaked out by now)_

"_Others? Which others? There are others like me? Are they also stuck in comics? Who…"_

_(definitely too inquisitive and curious by far. I think I prefer those that freak out._

_ok, to answer your earlier questions. I am a Qarok, an extremely powerful mind demon. I am here as I was placed by my Holder, this Samael you know of. right now, I have no orders from him, so I'm following orders from you as long as it isn't detrimental to you and myself. I won't hurt you as long as you continue to feed me and I didn't bring you here. not exactly. Holder Samael did that. there's just about no way to get rid of me, so you better get used to it. Samael is my Holder and he is more powerful than you'll ever know. I am not privy to my Holder's reasons for his actions, I just carry them out to the tee.)_

Innay sat down on the chair. This was dizzying. After all that she had gone through, it did not seem difficult to imagine that there was something in her head, even if it was just her going crazy.

_(you're not crazy, at least not yet. the Holder needs you for something and you will not come to any harm until then)_

"_Only until then? What will happen after? He'll kill me won't he? Oh my god, I need to get out of here…"_ Innay stood up and looked around for her pack.

_(he will not kill you. he has no such back up contingency and… his control over me is loose. he means for you to, do something for him)_

Innay thought the Qarok sounded hesitant and unsure.

"_Is there anyway that I can, block you out?"_ Innay didn't like the idea of this… thing knowing everything.

_(I am not privy to give you that information at this moment. tough luck lady)_

"_Which means it is possible…"_ Innay mulled over that information for abit. The Qarok remained wisely silent at that comment.

"_Do you have a name?"_

_(I am known as a Qarok)_

"_Surely you have a name?"_

_(I have none, the Holder has never deemed it necessary)_

"_So what am I suppose to call you? I think I'll give you a name if you don't give me one."_

_(I am not a pet to be given a name)_

Innay knew a sore spot when she heard one.

"_Aw come on! How about Qorky? Or Qark? Or just Q?"_

_(this is outrageous! it is below my dignity to have such names)_

"_Ok, since you obviously sound like a guy…"_

_(I have no sex)_

"_You SOUND like one, so it'll be…"_

A knocking at her door caused Innay to jump out of her seat.

_(answer quickly, for the one who can help approaches)_

"_Someone can help me? Who?"_

_(you will know when you see her)_

Innay opened the door to find a stone faced, neon-tied, moustached and goateed Sunako together with a surprised Kyohei and a worried Yuki.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Noi was cuddled up against a silent Takenaga as the Ferris Wheel brought the couple higher and higher. She could barely contain her thumping heart. She was on a lovey-dovey date with the man of her dreams and they were in a Ferris Wheel.

You know what happens in Ferris Wheels right at the top!

She had paid the operator to stop their car at the very zenith, where the view and atmosphere would be the most romantic. There, she would indulge in her Ferris Wheel fantasy. An intense, love-filled, searing make-out session with Takenaga! Then, maybe today, they'd finally make it to a Love Hotel, where they would become proper 'Lovers'.

Noi felt herself grow hot at the thought and she clutched tightly at Takenaga's arm. Her inner mind theatre at this point of time is not suited for children below the legal age. They were nearing the top and the view was going to be perfect. She had purposefully chosen this time to take the Wheel, for the sun would be setting against the far horizon, the perfect backdrop for their perfect kiss.

Takenaga on the other hand, was still brooding over the issue that had had the boys up since 6 in the morning. He did, however, notice when the Wheel started to slow down, and finally came to a stop at the very top. The view was breath-taking, the setting sun along the sea horizon. He suddenly realized that Noi had fallen unusually silent and turned to check on her. Maybe the height was too much for her. He found himself looking into a pair of hopeful eyes, very close to his face.

Noi had waited for awhile when the cab had stopped at the top, but Takenaga hadn't said anything. In fact, he hadn't said much the whole day. Maybe he had been waiting for the right moment to say the words. Maybe he wanted her to make the first move. Face burning, she had inched her face ever closer to his as he gazed out the window. When he turned to look at her, Noi had hope for a moment that the time had come.

Her Prince Charming was going to kiss her then say the words she wanted to hear.

His face a mere inches from hers, Takenaga suddenly understood that he had been effectively ignoring Noi the whole day. Planning to make it up to her, he moved his face closer to hers, angling, so that their noses wouldn't bump. He could feel her short breaths on his lips…

RING RING RING… RING RING RING… RING RING… toot. "Hello?"

Noi turned away and splayed herself against the window on her side. They had been so close! Weeping in anger, Noi planned to make the person who had called at that moment hurt very badly.

"What? Alright, I'm coming home now."

What? Was their date over already? What was going to happen to their night of initiation into the world of 'Lovers'? Too late, the Ferris Wheel had started to move again. Sniffling morosely, she hung her head, upset at the lost chance.

Takenaga turned to find a clearly distraught girlfriend giving off some dark waves that would have made Sunako very happy indeed. Frantic and sweating, he explained the situation to her, what had happened and that Kyohei had called saying that they had found the girl. Apologizing for an interrupted date, he promised to make it up to her. Mollified, Noi demanded to go home with him.

Takenaga was a scholar and an extremely intelligent individual. He knew better than to argue with Noi.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

As things had turned out, the area that Tamao had been spotted was one of Ranmaru's regular night spots. That his friend had considered it a bad part of town, spoke volumes of what his friend was saying about him. The bouncer at the door to the bar recognized him and allowed him in with a curt nod, garnering indignant exclamations from people in the long line.

Giving a quick scan of the room, he found a table, crowded by men, on all sides, with a bit of a glow shining through the top of the crowd. Crossing the crowded dance floor with quick strides, he parted the crowd to find the source of the light. The Princess. Princess Tamao.

She looked up, surprised that someone had managed to part the crowd she had been trying to disperse for so long. And there was her Prince. He wasn't in Shining Armour, but he had on a full outfit of white. Standing, she invited him to join her at the table. He pulled out a chair, draped his muffler and hat on the back rest and got comfortable.

The crowd still did not disperse.

He did his best 'Kyohei's-Death-Stare' imitation. The crowd quickly melted away. He turned his attention back to her. She was looking down and seemed vaguely discomfited to be seen in a place like this. Ranmaru watched her fidget for a bit, noticing the huge almond eyes, the petite nose and the lush lips that were pulled tightly in a grimace at this moment.

"_What a beauty… __Old man__… Father, I promise you, I WILL become Genji Hikaru!"_

She looked up to see her Prince staring dreamily up at the ceiling, his right hand a tight fist held in a position of determination. Tamao did not think that that look suited him, but she was too polite to say anything negative ever. He seemed to be grounded again as he looked upon her again. Stunned to be caught studying him, Tamao froze, unable to tear her eyes away from his gaze.

Unfortunately, the same could be said for Ranmaru. Surprised at being caught for watching her, her eyes had arrested him the moment they connected. Minutes went by as the two simply stared at each other as the room went by. Neither noticed the hungry and jealous stares they were attracting from around the room. Why, they were the two most beautiful people in the room, couldn't they at least try to share their beauty with the less fortunate?

The staring _(gazing)_ contest was abruptly interrupted by Ranmaru's phone. Startled, Ranmaru desperately dug into his pants pocket to still the ringing, squirming monster that had rudely cut into the moment. "Hello!..."

Tamao's take of the conversation was this: Ranmaru started out irritated, then he became confused, then he became taken aback, after which he became impatient. Upon him hanging up the phone, he grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the establishment. Fortunately, she managed to grab his and her things before Ranmaru quickly pulled her away from the table.

The whole way home, on the curb outside the club, in the taxi and during the walk up to the house, Ranmaru never let go of her hand. Not that she minded.

* * *

¹_**Author's Note: In case you didn't realize, this line was taken from **__Howl's Moving Castle__** when**__ Calcifer__** first introduces himself to Sophie in English.**_

**_Eh, that's it. I hope I managed to potray Tamao and Noi accurately. I was quite happy with what I did with Noi. I don't like her alot, but sometimes, I do think she deserves a break. Huhuhu..._**


	22. SOOKY

**_Finally, I've got wind to write again. So anyway, in another couple of chapters the story will close. I'm re-reading the manga to make sure I get it all right and I'm rediscovering why I love this manga so much. Hee hee..._**

**_xSTICKYxNOTEx - Thank you for staying with me all this time. I promise I'll be updating more frequently. At least, till I complete this trip._**

**_Lenden - My sister in psychosis! Can't believe you started an account simply to read my stuff! I'm way touched and I love you more!_**

Innay fidgeted under the constant gaze

_(stare)_

of Kyohei. Yuki was fussing around her, bringing her tea, bringing her blankets, constantly checking if she was alright. Sunako had, on the other hand, cruelly left her to her own devices while she had gone on to make dinner.

They were currently sitting in the formal lounge, with Innay in the middle of one settee and the two boys opposite her, across the tea table, on another.

Innay fidgeted some more as Kyohei's unflinching gaze

_(stare)_

studied her face. Yuki hurriedly set the cup he had been drinking from down on the tea table at this.

"Are you alright? Are you comfortable? Do you need more cushions? More blankets? Maybe I can turn the heater up?" Yuki, for some reason, just couldn't _not_ fuss over their guest. He felt almost paternal towards her, as if she gave off a 'Take-good-care-of-me-like-I'm-a-small-child' vibe that resonated through her and towards anyone and everyone that was around her. She just looked so vulnerable and innocent. She seemed almost frail.

Her eyes bungled and she whipped her head side to side quickly. "I'm fine, thank you very much. I'm so sorry to be an imposition."

Her voice was melodious and felt like a tide of warmth washing over you. It was far from delicate and feminine like Noi and Tamao's voices, yet there was a certain quality to it that made you want to ensure that she never shut up.

She smiled gratefully and apologetically at the same time towards Yuki, bowing her head slightly, projecting the very image of remorse and sincerity.

Yuki found himself smiling back at her. Her smile just did that. Before he knew it, he was grinning stupidly at her, nodding his head as if she had just

_(released a pearl of wisdom from a strand that draped and wound itself around her very being)_

said the smartest thing in the world. "Oh no, it's no problem at all. We love having guests over." Yuki gushed, trying his best to comfort and reassure her. "Please, have some tea." He motioned to the yet untouched teacup that he had set before her. Her eyes flew from his face to the cup and back to his face. She seemed to have made a decision within herself and she inclined her head as she used both hands to pick up the dainty porcelain, her lips forming an elegant 'o' as she blew gently at the surface of the steaming liquid and took a tentative sip.

Yuki found himself reaching for his own cup and performing the very same actions, smiling contentedly the whole time. She was just so lovely to watch.

Her eyes shifted up from the cup to his and she smiled awkwardly at him. He took another sip of his tea and smiled back, equally awkwardly.

A sudden movement to his right alerted him to the fact that Kyohei, whom had been very still up till now, had changed his position. The youth had been sitting with his legs wide apart, planted firmly on the ground. His gangly arms were crossed over his chest loosely. Now he crossed his left leg over the right, never at all breaking his scrutiny of the girl's face. Yuki elbowed him hard in the side. Surprised, Kyohei turned his thunderous gaze upon Yuki.

"What was that for?" He demanded most imperiously.

"Stop scaring her! You look like you're a hyena circling a dying animal, waiting for it to die so you can finally take your meal." Yuki spoke firmly.

"I, no… It's really alright. He isn't scaring me. Not really. At least… I think." The girl hastily apologized on Kyohei's behalf. "I… Erm… I just realized that I haven't introduced myself. Hello, I'm Innay. It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope we can be friends." She quickly set the cup down on the table and got up from her seat, extending her hand across the table towards Yuki.

Yuki quickly set his cup down and grasped her hand lightly. She had such pretty long fingers. And what trim and well kept fingernails. "I'm Toyama Yukinojo, but please, just call me Yuki. It's wonderful to meet you and I would really like to be friends!" A few decisive pumps and he released her hand and sat back down.

Her gaze, meanwhile, had turned to the sullen and silent person next to him. Said individual, on the other hand, made no move to accept the handshake or return the gesture. Yuki elbowed him again. He simply stared angrily at Yuki as Innay uneasily withdrew the hand.

"Don't be rude! She's offering an olive branch."

"She was the cause of me being out of bed before 10 am on a school holiday. I really don't think I'm in the best frame of mind right now to be shaking hands with her."

"I can't believe that you're still sulking about that. It's healthy to get up early once in awhile."

"Not when it's the school holidays. They are specifically engineered for late mornings and sleeping in."

"I don't understand why you're being so lazy. You often sleep in on the weekends as it is. What makes this so different from then?"

"That's cause I can't do it during the weekdays, like today is."

"ARGH! You're just so stubborn! Honestly, I don't understand how…" Yuki broke off momentarily as he heard a glorious sound erupt from the person opposite him.

Innay had watched the encounter unfold from an outside point of view. Having read so much of this comic, she wasn't surprised that these two acted the way they did. At first, she had wanted to apologize, but then Yuki had so quickly jumped to her defence that she couldn't get a word in edgewise. Then as the argument continued, she just couldn't help it.

She giggled.

Yuki stopped and stared at her, in very much the same way that Kyohei had been staring at her earlier. She had giggled and what a wonderful sound it was. All at once, he realized how silly they must have looked and he started to chuckle a bit himself. "He's such a kid isn't he?" Yuki affectionately pushed at Kyohei.

She tried her best to restrain herself, but ended up laughing out loud. Nodding her head, she agreed. "Yes he is. He certainly acts the part." And she giggled again. Kyohei's face turned to a dark red as he did his best to keep his temper in check. Yuki meanwhile, was enjoying having someone else who agreed with him and decided to take advantage of this moment.

"Yeah, and he always whines when he gets food that he doesn't like. He'll leave them on the side of the plate like a small child. He doesn't even try to eat things that will be good for him." Kyohei's face changed to a most lovely shade of purple.

Innay stifled her giggles as she realized that Kyohei was on the verge of doing something rather painful to Yuki. They really were like siblings. All at once, Innay's mood swiftly changed. Melancholy sank its venomous fangs deep into her chest as she realized that she had never experienced such sibling affection. She supposed that her parents had tried to love her, but they just didn't know how to love something that was exactly like them. She wasn't sneaky and unscrupulous as her father, nor was she as cunning and crafty as her mother. They had tried to make her like them, but she had never taken to their teaching methods well, inducing many screaming matches and brutal beatings with whatever was at hand. She felt so different from her parents that she could never understand how she could be their offspring, but her birth certificate had their names printed on it and she had the same blood type as her father.

Yuki noticed the sudden sullen silence and hurriedly assured her, "We're just joking, Kyohei really is very nice and he is also very kind." Innay looked up distractedly and blinked a few times, clearing her thoughts and smiled at Yuki, then at Kyohei. "I know that he just wants some answers, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you guys have once everyone is back."

"Damn right you owe us answers woman. There's a lot of things I'm gonna want to know about you." Kyohei quipped in insolently.

Innay picked up her cup and started to drink again serenely. The memory of her parents had brought back her confidence. After all, if she could survive 20 years living with them, what were a few days in her favorite comic? Meanwhile, she'll just enjoy the experience and she'll get her own answers from that Qarok.

"_So, tell me, what is it exactly that you have done to me?"_

_(I have done nothing to you. it is what you have done to yourself.)_

"_Now you aren't making sense. How could I be in this world, which is so real to the point that I can feel pain, by my own doing?"_

_(while that is true, I have merely, assisted you, in being able to do what you have done so far. I did not bring you here, the Holder did.)_

"_And your Holder is Samael?"_

_(you are fairly quick for your kind.)_

"_Gee, thanks. So he brought me here, and how did you get in me?"_

_(obviously the Holder placed me in you. otherwise why would he be called the Holder? I take back my compliment.)_

"_You never meant it anyway. But how do you, assist me in doing whatever has happened? Did you increase my metabolic rate or something so that I could heal faster? My ability to pick up words and languages?"_

_(that would not be very far from the truth. in reality, you posses such abilities within yourself to a limited sense. it is your physical make up which limits your abilities as a human. all I did was aid your mental and spiritual make up so that you might be able to make use of your psyche in fulfilling your true potential.)_

"_What smucking mumbo jumbo is this now? So what you're saying is that you helped, how shall I put it, release?, something in me that allows me to use psychic powers?"_

_(a crude way of putting it, but effective enough.)_

"_So can I use these powers to get myself out of here?"_

_(are you sure you want to leave?)_

That gave Innay pause. DID she want to leave? She didn't know anymore. She was fairly sure that the Qarok wouldn't harm her, but she wasn't so sure about Samael. And it did seem really interesting to experience the lives of her favourite comic characters…

_(here you can do anything you want, as long as you are able to will it. you can be anything, go anywhere, do anything and see anyone. you can re-invent yourself, make yourself over and meet new people. it is even possible to fall in love and stay in this world.)_

"_I have a life outside of this world."_

But Innay knew, that she could very well do all that the Qarok had said. What waited for her back home? An unhappy family and bad memories. Sure she had her work and friends, but they must have forgotten her by now, or given up on her. It just wouldn't be possible for them to keep waiting or looking for her. Nobody remembers her for very long. It would be so easy to forget about her. She had always been a forgettable person.

_(here you will NEVER be forgotten.)_

"_Stop listening into my thoughts. I gotta figure out how I can block you out of them. You are such a sticky beak_¹_."_

_(I am in your mind, there is no where else for me to listen to. sides, we are now one. get used to it lady.)_

"_Are all buggy demon things as irritating as you?"_

_(I'm NOT a bug! I'm very powerful)_

"_I'm sure you are. But anyway, I've finally come up with a name for you."_

_(I've told you already. I'm not some pet for you to name)_

"_I'm not naming you as a pet, I'm naming you as a friend. And I want to give you the name of the very first person I admitted to loving."_

_(… I know his name. very well. I accept)_

"_Is there anything you don't know love? Wow, you sure are gonna be useful."_

_(naturally)_

"_And what modesty too! Dear me, what the smuck ever have I done to deserve you?"_

_(you were born. that is your only sin.)_

"_That was a rhetorical question. But as a human being, I'm inherently sinful, how could that have been my only sin?"_

_(it is true that all humans are inherently sinful and it is easy for all to do bad. it is easier to give into the urges that a body has as compared to fighting against it. these actions are all contributed by the physical and mental make up of a person, hence it is necessary for both to be present.. if one is not alive, or born, there can be no physical make up, hence there can be no contribution to sin.)_

"_You mean there can be no physical and mental make up."_

_(no, rather the psychological make up is not something that is born. it just is. it exists. and it can exert a will, however there is only one will of a psychological being, and that is to have a physical make up. that is where sin comes to be born.)_

"_Ok, that's just all nonsense and gobble de gook to me. That's like saying that you can exist outside of a body."_

_(indeed it is very similar to that, however, a psyche that has never experienced life will only crave for it. on the other hand, a psyche that has gone through life will have different influences, depending on how the life it has gone through was.)_

"_That's not possible. It's all philosophical bool. I don't wanna talk about this anymore. Tell me what I can do."_

_(you started it…)_

"_I DID NOT! You are such a sook_²_!"_

_(am not, you're the one that is a sook.)_

"_You're the sookywawa."_

_(you're a sookyBABA.)_

"_Why I oughta… Just tell me what I can do already!"_

_(I think the better question is, what can you NOT do?)_

"_Not do?"_

_(if you can imagine it and will it. you can do it.)_

Innay sat back in the plush sofa and pondered over this. If she could imagine it, she could do it…

"Innay? Are you alright? You fell asleep." Yuki's concerned face was suddenly hovering right in front of her.

Blinking owlishly, Innay realized that the whole conversation with the Qarok

_(he has a name now)_

had taken place with her eyes closed and she had completely shut out the rest of the world. "I'm fine, really." And smiled her usual 'smile-with-me' smile. Everything was fine now.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

After another quarter of an hour of constant studying

_(staring)_

on Kyohei's part, fussing

_(fathering)_

on Yuki's part and general agreement and silence on Innay's part, the other two occupants of the house finally arrived. Both burst into the room breathlessly, each with a blinding light in tow. Innay threw her arms up to shield herself from the glare of the four new bright lights in the room.

"_How the smuck does Sunaky survive? It's so bright! I'm not even a Creature of the Dark and I think it's too much."_

The new arrivals watched this gesture in astonishment, with the same thought going through everyone's mind – "Is she Sunako Number 2? … Hope not!"

Yuki practically jumped out of his seat and welcomed the newcomers into the room.

"Sunako has been preparing dinner for us, maybe you two ladies would like to go help her?" Yuki figured it would be easier for the guys to ask questions of Innay if there weren't people who didn't know the whole story here. Though he worried that Innay wouldn't be comfortable being alone with 4 guys.

Noi stood forward. "What are you talking about? I want to know what is goi…" She didn't get far in her argument when Tamao placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, silencing her. "Let's go help Miss Sunako. I'm sure she would appreciate it."

"What? Don't you want to know what's going on? I do!"

"I'm sure we will learn about it when it is convenient for us to do so. But first, we have other important things to attend to." With that, Tamao linked her arm with Noi and gently dragged the protesting girl out of the room.

Innay watched this happen with a bemused expression, thoroughly enjoying herself as she watched the lives of these wonderful characters that she enjoyed learning and reading about.

* * *

¹_**Author's Note: A sticky beak is a busybody. Aussie slangs are so funny.**_

_**²Author's Note: A sook is a sulky person. I love slangs.**_

**_So yeah. Will the guys get the answers they want?_**


	23. KYAH

**_AUTHOR'S HONESTY NOTE:Was lying on my housemate's bed telling her that it's not wise to leave printed material on the window sill when I realised that I spelt it wrong here! Hee hee.. Changed it!_**

**_I had thought about having this as just one chapter with the previous chapter, but it didn't seem appropriate somehow. It was a change of the mood I guess._**

**_Disclaimer: Some people have all the luck, (Namely Tomoko-san) for owning these gorgeous characters. Other than mine of course! ;)_**

The boys took seats opposite and around Innay.

Her eyes silently followed their movements as she noted how everyone positioned themselves. Kyohei was still seated directly opposite her, clearly challenging her. Yuki had moved to sit towards her right, allowing himself easy access to the teapot should anyone require a top up. Takenaga stood behind Kyohei, apparently backing up Kyohei's stare in his own reluctant manner. Ranmaru stood staring out the window behind her, obviously trying to avoid displaying his discomfort and confusion about the whole matter.

The boys really were so predictable.

"_Alright now Dong, time to help me out."_

_(I will do the best I can)_

She picked up the delicate china and took another satisfied sip of the now lukewarm fragrant tea. Breathing the fumes in deeply, she savoured the moment and set the cup back on its doily. She stared straight at Kyohei, accepting his challenge. Innay stood up form the seat.

"Good day to all of you, my name is Innay Mil and I am from a country called Singapore. I'm 21 years old this year and I'm of Chinese origin. I understand that you all have some question that you would like answered and I'd be more than happy to answer them to the best of my ability." Innay grinned widely and moved towards her left, hoping to be able to see everyone in the room.

Kyohei, unsurprisingly, was the first to ask

_(yell)_

his question. "Where did you go this morning?!"

Innay's eyes shifted from side to side rapidly, a habit she had developed when she was thinking. "Go? I didn't go anywhere…" Cocking her head, she tapped her chin, wondering if he was asking her about her impromptu trip to the kitchen.

"Don't play around with me now you crazy girl! You weren't in your room this morning! Because of you, I had to get up early and go out in the cold to look for you!"

"I'm not playing! I was in the kitchen, having breakfast with Sunako. The tray for the food is in the bin and you can even check with Sunako." Innay exclaimed, a little affronted at being shouted at.

Takenaga held up an open palm and hurriedly interrupted, "He didn't mean to yell at you. We were all just really worried, because you hadn't looked well the day before, so we feared that you might have fainted or fallen somewhere on the streets."

"Very well…" Innay was about to continue when a sudden shriek from the next room pierced the tense atmosphere. Senses alert, Innay sprang into action, vaulting off the tea table over the boys that were seated, with her hands outstretched, she landed with nary a whisper of the denim of her jeans as she rolled to her feet and flung the door open.

Noi and Tamao were cowered in the corner as Sunako stood with the phone dangling from her hand. A dark cloud had silently begun to gather above Sunako, inducing the terrified squeals that had alerted the rest of the household to the impending storm. Innay hurried over to Sunako and gripped her shoulders. "Sunako, what's wrong? What's happened? Look at me! Are you alright?!"

Six individuals cringed at the thought of such a fearless approach to the Queen of Darkness and one Golden Creature of the Light watched all too curiously, the cogs under his matt of straw finally kicking into high gear.

Sunako's blank look was replaced by bewilderment as she turned from an invisible foe to the person who was so insistent a shaker. "A reunion… They want to have a graduating class reunion." Was all she could stammer out without further encouragement to reveal.

"Who? Who… Oh!" Innay fell silent as a switch clicked in her mind. She knew what was going to happen. The class reunion. She had read it in the comic. She let her hands fall from Sunako's shoulders to hold Sunako's hands. "Sunako, the decision is ultimately yours as to whether you go, but know that I support you whatever you do."

Dong snickered in her mind as he 'read' her plan. Innay mentally shoved him.

_(hey! no need to push…)_

So she could affect him physically. Dong quickly shut up.

Sunako stared blankly at Innay's face, seeing, but not registering that someone she had only known for two days (technically, one) seemed to be able to placate, yet understand her at the same time. But she knew nothing of this girl. Nothing of this Soulmate of the Dark. That's what she was. A soulmate, or at least it felt like it.

"What's going on ne? Huh? Huh?" Yuki ventured forward now that Sunako had calmed down again.

"A graduating class reunion." Came Sunako's curt reply.

"A class reunion? Isn't it cool! It sounds like fun!" Yuki was immediately entranced with the idea.

Takenaga smiled and added, "You can meet you old friends!"

Turning to face the crowd, Sunako answered: "I won't go."

They all trouped into the sitting room from which Innay had just executed Super Sleuth moves to get out off. Said girl quietly trailed the group watching it happen.

Yuki sat back down in his seat and rested his chin in his hands. "Aw, don't be like that. It's going to be fun. You should go."

"There'll be lots of people, even if only from school, so they'll be fine." Sunako tossed back as she left the room for the kitchen.

Ranmaru watched her retreating form with understanding. Covering his face with his hand, he stuttered, "How… How can she be that calm when **that guy** will be there?"

The everlasting chorus chirps in: "That guy?"

"Th… That guy… The guy who rejected Sunako!"

Innay chose this moment to leave the boys to their wild imaginations and ruminations¹ to silently assist Sunako with the dinner preparations. Noi and Tamao had hurried after Sunako as well.

"Sunako, you should go! And let them know that you now have Kyohei so you won't need that idiot!" As was expected to Noi, Innay simply smiled to herself and gathered up 7 pairs of chopsticks. Tamao accepted them from her readily with a nod of thanks as she rummaged around for 7 matching spoons.

Walking into the dining room where the four pretty boys sat ready Sunako stated simply: "It doesn't matter anymore."

Innay knew what would happen, so she hung back, eager to have some time alone so that she could add details to the plan she had in mind. She knew that she would be missed at dinner as the guys would want more answers, but she really didn't want to be distracted by all the idle chatter. Afterall, she herself didn't know much about her own situation. Anyway, Innay could rattle off what would happen.

Kyohei would test that statement by calling her ugly, to which her response is simply to walk calmly away, however later in her room, the dark side gets the best of her and she begins a suspended whirlwind fight with the said idiot, after which Kyohei calls her out and finally, she does go.

Innay on the other hand, needed to clear her way so that nothing would get in the way of what she wanted to do.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

It was not till well after 11 that night that anyone noticed that Innay had silently disappeared without explanations for anything. Sunako would keep everyone busy with her dark antics as it was. For the second time that day, a group discussion was called.

"That bitch has disappeared again. Without giving us any answers for her first disappearance!" Kyohei thundered.

"Innay really must have a lot of things on her mind." Yuki pondered miserably, worried for the girl that he had come to feel protective towards.

"What makes you say that Yuki?" Takenaga asked quizzically. Yuki hadn't spoken much more with her than the rest of them, how did he seem to know more about her?

"When I brought her dinner up to her last night, she was still sleeping. But she was frowning as she slept. And she was mumbling and tossing about, like she was trying to fight something. I think she's worried about something. Also, she had spoken in her sleep, saying something like Samel or Camel. What's more, she sounded so scared when she whispered that word." Yuki's boyish face crumpled in concern as he fiercely held his emotions in check. He was getting more and more anxious as to her wellbeing, with the recollection of the night before.

"I say we let her be. She's a troublesome woman. I want no part of her anymore." Kyohei's suggestion, though harsh, was understandable. Ranmaru, for all his suavity with the women, agreed with him on this. "Kyohei's right. If she had wanted to tell us what was going on, she would have earlier. That she's run away shows that she still wants to keep her secrets."

"How can you say that?! What if she's in danger? She's just one girl by herself! She won't be safe outside on her own!" Yuki stood up and held his fists tightly at his sides, tears threatening to wash his cheeks.

Takenaga reached up and gripped Yuki's shoulder gently. "Have you checked her room?"

The three turned to look at the dark haired bishounen.

"Her room?"

Takenaga shook his head as he stood up to head upstairs. "Wait!" Ranmaru called out. "Let's check if her shoes are still here."

"Good point."

The four checked the shoe cupboard and were surprised to find Innay's shoes sitting there, leaning against each other. They looked at each other as they turned to go up the staircase.

In her room, the four quietly flipped the switch, not wanting to wake the slumbering Sunako next door. Her backpack sat at the foot of the bed, a black bump on an otherwise sea of white sheets.

"See, she's still here. Somewhere." Takenaga remarked, even as for some reason, relief flooded him.

"Thank goodness. I wonder where she's gone off to. We haven't seen her for hours." Yuki sat on the bed, placing a hand on the backpack.

Takenaga took a seat next to him as Ranmaru moved to the chair that Innay had initially attempted to use as a shield against Dong. Kyohei strode to the window, drawing the curtains with a decisive thrust. He didn't like how the room was as shrouded as that girl's room. The two were so similar that he didn't think he could stand another like Sunako. The moon was full tonight and it shone its ghostly light upon the garden out back. A movement of light caught his attention. Was it Sunako? The ephemeral sprite turned out to be the very one they were searching for. She sat with her back towards the mansion, looking up at the ivory moon, looking very much as if she would float up to the moon at any moment.

"There she is!"

Kyohei spun around, ready to race downstairs and shake the answers he wanted out of that girl, Innay. Yuki jumped off the bed and blocked the way out the room. "Let her have some time to herself first!"

"She's had the whole night. It's time for answers."

"No Kyohei, Yuki is right. It's late, we're tired. We may make a mistake in our questioning and she may not desire to answer us." The voice of reason rose from the bed gracefully.

Ranmaru silently rose, picked up her backpack and made to leave the room. "There'll be plenty of time to ask questions tomorrow and she can't leave without her bag, so she can't leave tonight. Get some sleep Kyohei, we'll get our answers tomorrow."

Grumbling under his breath, the wild spirit headed for his own room as the two left watched him and shook their heads.

It was indeed wise for the four to have left Innay alone, for she had been paid a visit by someone important just moments before Kyohei had spotted her.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Georgia had reached the gate of the Nakahara residence in time to see Noi and Tamao leave. Excellent timing.

She walked around the other side of the estate, one hand trailing the wall. Sensing the garden on the other side, she merely levitated herself over the wall and searched for a convenient spot to sit and wait for Innay to show up. She knew she would. The Qarok would not deny the call of her power. It already knew that she would be here.

She did not have long to wait.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Innay had slipped back up to her room and tossed her backpack on the bed. She wasn't hungry for dinner and she didn't want to be interrupt any part of the proceedings as they were suppose to happen. Already things were happening that weren't in the comic. They had an impromptu visit to the hospital, the jumping and running incident, then the day's events. She couldn't help but feel that she must be somehow screwing up some kind of time thing going on in the comic.

But somehow that didn't seem right either. Afterall, this was just a comic. It wasn't real.

_(are you sure? or could it be that you are the one that isn't real.)_

"_What do you mean I'm not real? Of course I am! I breathe, I live, I eat, I sleep, I hurt, I play. Of course I'm real."_

_(do not the occupants of this house do the same?)_

"_Yeah… But… I read about them, so they can't be!"_

_(how would you define real?)_

"_Real is what I believe. What is believable."_

_(do not this people believe that they are real? they bleed when hurt, cry when sad, laugh when happy. they have faith in their friends, they love their families, they believe that they are making choices that would benefit them. to themselves, they are real.)_

"_But… They aren't! And I __**know **__they aren't!"_

_(how? simply cause you have read about them? how do you know that maybe they haven't read about you and maybe you are the one that is 'unreal'? maybe not them, but how do you know that someone isn't reading about you and thinking, this isn't real, it's only a story. ) _

"_I… don't."_

Innay didn't like how Dong was making her think about such things. She didn't like it, but she sure appreciated that he was forcing her to do so. If she couldn't believe in this world, she wouldn't be able to believe in herself as a person and more importantly, she wouldn't be able to believe in all that has happened and all that she has done so far. Had all her suffering and pain simply been the whim and fancy of an author? Did how she trump her childhood turn out to simply be the author's desire to make her more likeable? Or had she really summoned her own strength and climbed up from the pit herself? Tears of anger and self hate pricked her eyes. She had to believe that it was **all** real.

_(to survive in this world, that really is the only way to go. everything, is real.)_

"_So if I die in this world, it is real as well? If I got married in this world, is that real? If I had a child in this world, is that real? If I continued to live here and I got a job, would that be real? If I continue to live, IS THAT REAL AS WELL?"_

Dong was silent.

"_ANSWER ME!"_

_(… the one who can answer all your questions and more has come.)_

"_What? Are you trying to dodge the issue? Smucking answer me Dong!"_

_(the window. go.)_

Frustrated, Innay stomped across the room to pull the curtains back. Scanning the garden, a single figure sat with their back to her.

"_Who the smuck is that?"_

_(the Holder's mate.)_

"_She's related to Samael? Smuck it, she needs some talking to."_

Unlatching the window, Innay swung it wide open and stepped out on the ledge.

"_If I can imagine it, I can do it."_

Balancing precariously, Innay turned herself around to face the room. Closing the window to rid any signs of exit, her grip on the window sill tightened momentarily.

"_Time to test this out."_

Innay closed her eyes and pictured herself diving off backwards, her arms straight out and her body doing two and half back flips, landing on the half in a crouched position.

_(you can do that as long as you believe it to be real.)_

Letting go of the sill, Innay bent her knees and thrust herself off the ledge.

* * *

¹_**Author's Note: Chapter 62 and page 06 of the manga. :)**__** It's a funny page. Hee hee…**_

**_That's it for this week. I'll do my best to update weekly, that way I'll have more to post. _**


End file.
